Had I Never Lived
by RaineJoybringer
Summary: A rewrite of a previous fic. It seemed escape was only a matter of time for the Nibi, but when the curiosity of others might kill the cat, death can not be an option for it. And so Kita's life will soon belong in her own hands. Ch 20: Corpse Walker
1. Life

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Welcome to new readers, and many previous (you guys are awesome for waiting). I promised I was going to do a rewrite for 'Two Tailed Angel', and here it is at last. I apologise for being late, but I've been writing a lot of stuff in advance rather than write one chapter at a time and put it up. I think things will make a bit more sense if I have things to refer ahead to when I edit over it.

Anyway, I should probably explain a couple things which made me decide to do this rewrite – I felt like my style of writing had changed to much from when I first started the original and it was holding me back. I also felt like Kita and a few others were walking across the fine line into Mary Sue-dom. I love my OCs, but they shouldn't be immune to the harsh reality of writing. I hope you all forgive me and you'll enjoy this story. If you have any constructive criticism for me, it is more than welcome and I will listen to every word you have to say.

* * *

* * *

**_Chapter 1: LIFE_**

"Doctor… where's the doctor? Get the doctor!"

Blood dripped with soft 'plipping' sounds, pooling onto the linoleum flooring.

"Hissori-san, you can't stay here. The nurses need to do their work."

"Don't tell me what to do! Minami, she needs me, now!"

The man pounded on the door as it was slammed shut in his face. His calls to see his wife went unheard though. He pressed his forehead against the wall, hearing the muffled sounds of people moving, things clattering around, and the slow beep of some unknown medical device. He hardly blinked while he strained to listen to the beeping. The world in the hallway around him was gone – only that faint sound beyond his grasp was what existed. The afternoon sun burned the back of his neck as orange light filled the corridor. It slowly faded to red as he stayed, melded to the wall and listening… listening to what he knew was his wife's heartbeat.

Dread filled him as the sound eventually changed, becoming a flat tone that wailed endlessly. The man's eyes widened.

"Hissori-san?" The door opened. A nurse stepped out, her form bathed in red, but not from the sun's lingering light. A metallic stench filled the hallway.

The man turned from his place at the wall, his face a blank look of disbelief.

"You'd… better come in," muttered the nurse.

The walk into the room seemed to take forever, his footsteps were clumsy and mismatched. His hands shook as he held them out. It took him a moment to realise something had been placed into them, a bundled blanket stained with red. He looked down at it, feeling the slightest of weights within it.

He nearly dropped it when he saw it, a tiny face, blood splattered and turning blue.

The thing he was holding was dead. Its head rolled to the side limply, towards the bed where its mother was laying, colour slowly draining from her skin. Tears cut through the mascara she had so carefully put on that morning. Where she had been crying was obvious, the inky lines on her cheeks stained her face.

Her eyes were glassy, and the man knew… she had gone.

He glanced back down at the small creature in his hands. It was so tiny…

"Do something," he whispered in a pleading voice. He held the baby out to the staff at the end of his wife's bed. "Please… do something. You can do something, right? You know medical jutsu? Can't you use it? You have to know something! I don't want this to be it!"

Some of the staff looked at each other, strange expressions on their faces, almost like fear.

"Get the Tsuchikage," muttered one of them.

* * *

Shrill screams tore through the air. It was hard to tell what the sounds were – that of a baby, or some dying animal. The screams were painful to hear.

But the man was smiling, biting back tears. It was alive… no… _she_ was alive – his daughter.

"Kita… That's what she wanted to call you," he said to the tiny form. He ignored the worried looks of the nurse that stood nearby, the laboured breathing of the Tsuchikage as he tried to regain his stance from doing the ritual. He ignored the chains of the inky seals on the baby's skin, snaking up to become a strange circle on her forehead. He didn't even blink as the dot within it moved around, fixing itself to look up at him before melting into the skin with the rest.

"Hissori, you know what this means, don't you?" asked the Tsuchikage, being helped to a chair by the nurse. He thanked her and took another large breath. When the other man looked at him, he sighed in frustration. "This sealing we've done is an anomaly. Past rituals have never been done this way… with such a subject. The fact it went so well isn't a good sign. You know the Nibi's association with power, don't you?"

Hissori nodded slowly. Behind him, the nurse wrapped the baby in a new blanket. She put the tip of a finger inside the tiny human's hand, but it didn't clutch back - unusual. It was hard to believe she was alive now, not after seeing the oxygen-starved face previously.

"And to think, something associated with death actually brought something back to life," she whispered quietly so nobody could hear. "But, what will you become? The last Jinchuuriki was killed by the previous Tsuchikage for going insane and murdering his team-mates in the last war. Even if you're human on the outside, what are you on the inside?"

The baby opened her eyes, staring up at the nurse with such calm it was disturbing.

"Bara-chan."

"Yes, Benkei-sama?" The nurse glanced up from the child's gaze.

"You are to tell those that were present that they are not to speak of this. Under order of death." The Tsuchikage gave a frown. "We only have the option of patience and time to see how fate unfolds on this child."

The woman gave a nod as she handed the baby to her father. "Benkei-sama, we should let Hissori-san have some time alone with his daughter."

"Yes, yes… I know. Geez, I feel like an old man. Help me up." The Tsuchikage grumbled to himself as Bara assisted him to stumble to the door. He paused and glanced back at the man cradling his new daughter. "Hissori, we are supposed to be guardians for the next generation. We won't allow the past mistakes our village have made with Jinchuuriki to be done again. We can't forget that all children need love to become strong."

The man looked down at the baby in his arms and turned to the window as the door shut behind him.

Bara raised an eyebrow at the stumbling mess of a man beside her. "Benkei-sama, why exactly did you decide to revive the child? Is it because she's of Mitsukai blood?"

Benkei shook his head. "A fellow Iwa shinobi should never be denied help, and Hissori is basically family to me. He was one of my first students when I was a jounin, and I watched him grow up. Him _and_ Minami… they became such a close couple while working together. I wasn't surprised when they finally decided to marry. The village will be so sad for losing her… She was one of the best kunoichi I knew…"

"What of her child then? Do you think she'll become like her mother?"

The Tsuchikage stared down the long hallway. The fluorescent lights began to flicker to life above them as the sun's light vanished behind the mountains. "Maybe, as long as this part of her life is kept a secret – she may grow up never knowing. But…" His voice faded out for a moment.

"But…?" repeated Bara curiously.

"The Nekomata is not one to let itself be confined so easily. And I am sure it misses its freedom. Death has a way of affecting us all."

* * *

**7 years later…**

"I don't want to go, Dad. I wanna stay with you." Purple eyes blinked frantically, tears on verge of spilling over.

It nearly broke Hissori's heart whenever she gave him those eyes. He crouched down next to his daughter, stroking her hair. It always amazed him how much she looked like him – the same colour eyes, same shade of hair – a shade of purple so light it was almost silver. She even had the same stubborn chin.

Still… he always felt something like disappointment when he looked in those eyes. Nobody ever said she had her mother's features. It was always 'she has your eyes', or 'she even smiles the same'. Every time he looked in her eyes, he was never able to find a hint of her mother in them.

The years had been rather quiet since Kita's birth. Well, quieter than he had expected. Those who had been involved had been true to their word and only the most minor of rumours were heard. Of course, it was the kind of rumour that was more like an urban myth – bound to spring up every few years or so, but having only speculation behind it. Still, whenever Jinchuuriki or Bijuu were mentioned, a strange silence would always follow. Iwagakure could still remember the reasons why they were so feared, and the news that Konohagakure had been attacked two years previous to Kita's birth was still unforgettable. The photos in the newspapers of the village burning to the ground while a demonic fox presided in the centre became infamous.

In his mid-twenties now, Hissori felt like he was finally stable with what his life was. Becoming a single parent hadn't been easy, but he had been lucky. The community around him had practically flocked to his aid, giving him everything to clothes to advice on raising a kid. But, of course they wanted to help. The Mitsukai clan had once been called the 'Guardians of the Rock'… at least, until the war with the Land of Fire. He remembered it hadn't been too long after he'd graduated from ninja academy. When he'd answered the door with his grandmother, they had both still been celebrating his official entry into a team. The second they saw the messenger though, their faces fell. His grandmother collapsed from grief. And eventually, a few years later, she too would join the rest of their relatives buried in the graveyard outside of town; the loss had been too much of a burden on her grieving heart.

The only thing that had kept Hissori from a broken heart had been his angel – Minami. He had seen her around the academy, though she was in another class. The classes back then had been so big, trying to graduate as many shinobi as they could and as quickly as possible for the war. When he finally met her on their first day as Team Omega, his heart had stopped for a second. She had smiled at him with such beautiful eyes it was intoxicating. He would never get enough of her.

And everyday he missed her. Every. Single. Day.

Realising he'd been silent for far too long, he gave his daughter a smile and ruffled her hair. "Don't you want to become a ninja? Last night you were talking for hours about it. You want to become strong like your father, right?"

Kita started bawling, clinging to his shirt and refusing to let go. "I wanna stay with you!"

Hissori looked up at the sky and prayed for some kind of intervention. He held onto Kita tightly until her crying turned to quiet whimpering. Suddenly, he had the urge to laugh. This… he should be treasuring this moment.

But he couldn't. In the back of his mind, there was always that feeling there was something wrong – something _awfully _wrong, and with his own child at that. Her face buried in his shoulder, he could only stare at the top of her head and wonder about what was within. Even if he loved her, the feeling was still there. He couldn't admit it, but for the first four years, he had been terrified of his daughter.

It had only taken a few hours after Kita's birth for them all to realise something was wrong. She never cried again after those first screaming breaths.

But truly, the first four years had been hell. Kita had never developed like other children; it was like he was looking after a living doll. She'd been so weak and small… she would lay there for hours, with eyes staring up at the ceiling until he came close. Then they would suddenly shift wildly about until they pinpointed on him. And she would continue to stare until he moved away.

During that time, he had been afraid. Although his daughter seemed so harmless, he was barely able to look at her without getting chills up his spine. It had only been thanks to Bara that he could continue. The woman would come over every so often to help and give Kita check-ups. Those free moments to himself had been a lifesaver, to let him recompose himself and go on with renewed strength.

When four years had passed though, he had awoken one morning to a tug on his arm and a pair of bright eyes staring at him.

"Daddy, can I have toast for breakfast?"

The doll had come alive. Impossibility died that day.

However, it was there that things began to turn stranger. Just when Kita had seemed to have become a normal child, certain problems began to arise. Suddenly she seemed to develop strange sleeping habits – staying awake until the early hours and sleeping in until late morning. Getting her to sleep at night was always a problem, as well as getting her up in the morning. Her appetite was never very big, though her growth was only a little stunted than others her age. Bara had noted it too with curiosity when he brought her in. It was even stranger when it came to other trips to the hospital. In the multiple times that Kita had hurt herself, the wound had healed quite rapidly. However, there had been times when the wound had just refused to heal, almost as though the body had forgotten it was there.

Or something had forgotten to heal it.

_Nekomata… _Sometimes it just replayed, over and over, on the edge of Hissori's thoughts. It plagued him.

Could it have been possible? He almost couldn't ask himself the question, but it needed to be asked. For those first four years… had he been raising a demon? He was almost sure the child he held in his arms now was someone else, but where had she come from? Who was she, and what about the child that had been there?

Kita finally looked up from having her face hidden and sniffed. "I wanna be strong like you. I'll go to ninja school."

"Haha, having some kid troubles, Hissori?" laughed a deep voice. Kita stopped crying to look up at the source. The man looked back down at her, a grin on his face. "Good morning, Kita-chan. How are you today?"

The girl sniffed, her bottom lip still quivering. "Okay… Tsuchikage-sama… bu-but…" Tears started to roll down her face again.

Benkei gave a chuckle and turned behind him. A young girl had been hiding behind his robe. About to scamper back to the safety of the folds, she paused to stare at Kita. "This is Hisae, my own daughter. She's a little older than you, but you'll be in the same class."

Kita gave a slight nod to the other girl. She timidly nodded back before scampering back, dark green braids flying in the rush.

Benkei scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's a start," he sighed, crouching down to his daughter. He pushed a pair of sliding glasses back up the girl's nose to frame her hazel-coloured eyes. "I expect you to do your best, okay? And make lots of friends." He placed his hand on her head warmly before giving her a nudge towards the gates. While hesitant at first, Hisae crept towards them.

Hissori managed to wrestle Kita's grip from his leg, the girl having clung onto him again. "Why don't you go help Hisae-chan go inside? I think she'll need someone to help her be brave. You can do that for me, right?"

Kita wiped the tears from her eyes once more and nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

"That's my girl," smiled Hissori. "I'll come by at the end of the day to pick you up."

"I can walk home by myself!" protested Kita stubbornly. "I'm a ninja now!"

Her father gave a chuckle. "Not quite yet. Until then, I'll be picking you up."

"No fair," pouted the girl for a moment. Her pout turned to a grin as she turned and began to run to catch up with Hisae, calling her name.

Hissori stared after her, rethinking over his daughter. There was a pain about this. Minami should have been here. She should have been standing next to him, fretting about Kita and saying how proud they were. Instead, it was just him. Just him dreading about what he had just done. Sending his daughter off to be around other children; was he essentially sending the _Nibi_ off to kindergarten? The idea was so bizarre… almost laughable if he wasn't the person he was. His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"We should talk," said Benkei.

* * *

**A/N:** A lot of people seemed to like having a little reference guide at the bottom for names and such, so here we go again just to update on things. I have put the family name first, then organised the individual names under those.

**Names:**

**~Mitsukai** **– **Angel

***Hissori – **Quiet / still / silent / deserted

***Kita** **– **North

***Minami** **– **South

**~Ishi** – Stone

***Benkei – **It translates to 'strong man', although I have based his name off a figure of Japanese folklore. You should be able to find out more on Wikipedia if you wish.

***Hisae – **An alternate version of 'Hisa' meaning sustaining or enduring. In the original fic, she was known as Hana.

**~(Family name unknown) Bara -** Rose

Thanks for reading!


	2. Deal

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Thank you everyone for those reviews so far! You definitely gave me the encouragement I needed. No long notes this time, let's get on with it.

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Deal_**

The Mitsukai complex had once been a grand place, located at the far-end of town where a stream collected off the mountain and proceeded to run through town. This was the old side of Iwagakure, where the first foundations of a village had been laid. The mountainous area had been much too inviting, especially for hiding a ninja village. Time and history had taken its toll on the Mitsukai house, however. The complex had been sub-divided and sold off, leaving only the main house surrounded by a newly-constructed brick wall. But even the main house had suffered. The upper levels were basically nothing but nostalgia rooms and storage space now. Hissori only went upstairs when he needed to.

Fragrant steam wafted from the cup of tea placed before the Tsuchikage. The man placed his hands around it for warmth – there was a slight chill in the air today with the breezes from the mountains above them. He looked across the table to Hissori, cupping his hands around his own tea as well. It had seemed as though the heavy thoughts that always plagued the man's mind were heavier than usual today. Benkei gave a slanted frown. "You know Bara has been writing up reports for me on Kita."

Hissori nodded. "She visits every few weeks, yes."

"I've been following them, comparing them to the reports the last Tsuchikage wrote," Benkei said. "The last Jinchuuriki this village had was definitely different from your daughter. It concerns me… this progress."

The tea cup in Hissori's hands rotated as the man stared at it. "It's been frightening," he muttered. "For four years I never heard a word from her. I'd lay in bed awake when she was a baby, waiting for her to start crying. But she never did. It was more like I was looking after a doll, but her eyes would always follow me."

The older man nodded thoughtfully. All those worries on his shoulders – before him was a strong man. Even though Benkei read the reports, he found it tough to imagine living in that situation. What more could he do, however? Kita was meant to be a secret, and Hissori was torn between loving and fearing the child. Eternally attached to the memory of his wife with their child; yet resenting the child as well for the mystery of what she was. Benkei had doubts if he could ease the man's mind. "I'm not sure what to do, Hissori. Your concern over those four years is also worrying to me, but with how Kita has developed now, it seems as though all is fine. I'm at a loss for how to explain it. Perhaps it has something to do with forces beyond our control. Kita _was_ clinically dead until the Nibi was implanted; perhaps those years were a healing response of some kind. Perhaps the heavens have given us good fortune and smiled upon Kita's life?"

"I can't act like it never happened."

Benkei's frown deepened, figuring that 'good fortune' and 'smiles' were likely the last words on Hissori's mind to describe his thoughts about his daughter. "I know that. But, Hissori, these past seven years your performance on the job has been deteriorating. I may be a friend and your former sensei, but I'm also your Tsuchikage and I have a village to run. I need you to get out of this slump already. Stop worrying so much – Kita needs a strong role-model, and the rest of the village needs to see that its 'Guardian' still has hope." Seeing his former student give a mumble of understanding, Benkei sighed. "Look, if you need it, I'll ask Bara to come over more often again so you can get out and about. You haven't had any missions in a while – maybe the change would be good for you. I'll go through my mission lists and see what's available, alright?"

"Alright," agreed Hissori. "You might be right. Maybe I just I need some time away from the village."

"You're a stronger man than I," chuckled Benkei. He finished off the rest of his tea. "I've got paperwork to get back to. I'll contact you tomorrow morning about a mission, so get be ready with supplies."

Hissori leant against the support poles of the porch as the Tsuchikage gave a final wave from the front gate.

"A mission away…" said Hissori, looking up at the sky rimmed with mountains. "Yeah, that's what I need."

* * *

The sun was warm on the field. The sweet scent of newly-blooming flowers floated along on the fresh breezes from the mountains. Kita and Hisae stood looking up at the clouds, shielding their eyes from the glare of the sun. Hisae clutched at Kita's sleeve, having latched on as soon as the teacher had shunted the class outside for their first lesson. Hisae felt awkward hanging off the younger girl this way, but her fingers wouldn't let go. Kita didn't seem to mind that much at least.

"Morning, everybody," yawned the teacher, a weary-looking chuunin with her hair in tangles. She slapped her hands on her cheeks to wake up. "Okay, well, this is my first time teaching, so hopefully I'll get this right. Today we've got you girls separated from the boys' class. You'll meet them tomorrow. After that, I'll be taking you for morning classes to teach you how to become a refined kunoichi…" The young woman paused, realising her appearance was anything but 'refined'. She gave a cough.

The class of girls began to whisper.

"Hey, none of that now! I'm doing my best!" retorted the teacher. She placed her hands on her hips. "Being a good kunoichi is a tough job – you don't only have to be able to be strong and skilful, but you need to be knowledgeable. You'll always win if you're smart. Kunoichi are often used as spies too, so it's important to learn a wide variety of topics to help you to blend in with different situations. One mission might require you to pretend to be a princess, and another you might need to pretend to be a florist. So today we're going to do something easy and learn about flowers and their meanings. Form groups and go out and find me some… hm, either daises or peonies."

As soon as she said it, the girls ran for it, eager to escape for the time being. The teacher dusted her hands together, glad to escape from the gaggle of children as well.

"Kita-chan… I don't see any flowers," whispered Hisae. Kita tripped a little with the girl clinging to her. She turned, giving a crooked smile. Hisae's vision returned as Kita pushed the girl's glasses back up her nose. "Oh…" blinked Hisae. She blushed, giving an apology. Although she needed glasses for some time now, she often forgot about them.

Hisae listened as Kita gave a small sigh. Kita turned her sight back onto the field, glancing about for the right flowers.

"I dunno what a daisy or a peo-whatever is," she grumbled quietly.

A white flower poked between Kita and Hisae. "_This _is a daisy." The pair turned, a girl with long black hair grinned back at them, her confident eyes a brilliant blue. She pointed the flower at herself. "And _I'm_ Yanagi – Yanagi Jotei. What about you?"

"Kita Mitsukai," Kita introduced herself.

"Hi-Hi-Hisae Ishi!" Hisae pulled Kita down with her as she bowed. The sudden approach by this new girl had startled her.

Yanagi raised an eyebrow, a strange look on her face. It slowly changed to one of excitement. "The Tsuchikage's daughter!" she exclaimed, frightening Hisae again. "What's it like to have a dad like that?"

Hisae's free hand flew to one her braids so she could play with it nervously. "He-he's nice…"

The dark-haired girl didn't seem too impressed with that answer. She shrugged. "You're lucky to have a famous dad like that. _Nobody_ in my family is a ninja. I'm going to be the first one, and I'm going to become the next Tsuchikage!" She grinned again, this time at her boast. When she noticed the blank expressions from both Kita and Hisae, she waved the flower around. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's complete the mission!"

Hisae and Kita nodded, although the green-haired girl continued to cling at the other's arm. Hisae watched Yanagi's back as she led the way. What she would do for confidence like that… Even though Yanagi came off a little strongly, she could tell that her heart was in the right place. Her question about her father had made her nervous. He'd dropped her off this morning, that was true, but she hadn't really seen him all week outside of their training sessions. Usually it was like that phrase her mother used a lot – "throw yourself into work". Hisae didn't know the exact meaning, but she guessed if there was going to be a picture definition, her father would be it.

"Peonies!" called Yanagi, waving her arm around madly. "Come on you guys!"

Hisae felt her own feet start to move without Kita having to prompt her. Maybe she really had made some friends this year? She could only hope things would stay the same as this moment right now. Tomorrow would be a new day she would dread. She'd probably have to see _him_ again that day.

* * *

Two boys looked down from their table in the back row – watching as the weary-looking chuunin up front went over a piece of paper, calling out names.

"Tansei Ishi?" He called, scanning the rows.

"Here," replied one of the boys. In many ways, he looked familiar – tousled green hair and hazel eyes. But despite appearances, the aura around him was infinitely more outgoing. Tansei glanced across to the other boy sitting beside him. "This is a waste of time," he muttered.

"Sora Kigaino?" called the chuunin again.

"Over here!" yelled the other boy. He flashed a wide grin momentarily. His orange-coloured eyes glanced back at his friend. "He'll be done soon." Sora scratched the back of his head – a little hard with the amount of spiky blue hair that was like a jungle on his skull.

"I'm a lot stronger than these guys, I don't want to be held back," grumbled Tansei.

Sora merely shrugged, turning back to watch the teacher drone on with more names and talking about things that, frankly, didn't quite interest him. He'd heard enough of these 'what it means to be a shinobi' things from his mother, and she was more concerned with him controlling his bloodline already. But he had a hard enough time understanding how it worked. His mother had tried to explain, but found it was lost on him at the moment – something about reaching out to people's thoughts or something.

He could feel it in the back of his brain though. A sort-of buzzing sound, but indiscernible to make out. Like a thousand whispers going on at once. It gave him a headache sometimes.

Still hearing his friend muttering under his breath, Sora gave a silent groan to himself. Tansei had been his friend ever since he could remember. Things had changed a few years ago though. Suddenly Tansei had little time for him, instead going off to training sessions with his uncle, the Tsuchikage. Sora couldn't do much though. He had his own troubles with his mother beginning her training routines on him (not that she was getting far at the moment, which didn't help her frustrations either). Luckily, however, despite the feeling of loneliness welling up inside him, he'd one day been running down the street only to bump into a girl. Dark hair draped the girl's face as he tried to help her up. A flash of brilliant blue eyes and a frown, followed by angry words shouting at him that she didn't need his assistance up.

"I'm… Sora," he'd said awkwardly. "You live nearby? I can walk you home."

"Not needed," replied the girl. She flicked some stray hairs behind her ear before walking off. Before turning a corner, she looked back. "I'm Yanagi."

Ashamedly, Sora had waited on that corner everyday for a week waiting for her to pass by. When she passed by again finally, she had stopped. Eventually, a funny sort of friendship had arisen.

"…Sora, you got that stupid grin on again," said Tansei abruptly. The blue-haired boy blinked from his stupor. Tansei frowned, presuming what it was about. "The girls' class doesn't join up until tomorrow." His brows furrowed further. "Hisae will be in it too."

"Your cousin?" asked Sora, getting a nod in reply. "But she's a year older. She's still getting lessons from the Tsuchikage, right?"

The glower on Tansei's face didn't ease. Something seemed to be bothering him, but whatever the case, he wouldn't say. Sora almost wished he was better at whatever it was his mother was trying to teach him. He sighed, hoping that tomorrow would arrive faster.

* * *

The dinner table was quiet that night despite the events of that day. A small and dusty-looking vase sat as the centrepiece, holding a lone flower that had wilted over the course of the day – Kita had brought it home after stashing it away in her lunchbox. Hissori looked at the flower wistfully. It had been a long time since he'd brought flowers home. He used to buy a bouquet for Minami every other week when they were dating. He still did, only now he would lay the flowers on her gave.

"I met some new friends today," mentioned Kita quietly.

Hissori glanced up as he realised he'd been spoken to. "What was that?"

"I met some new friends today," Kita repeated. There wasn't any anger or irritation in her tone, he noted. Although they'd done this routine a hundred times, every time it happened she was always patient about it.

"Oh," was his reply. Silence… Hissori's shoulders drooped. "We need to discuss something, now that you're at the academy and that. Benkei-sama… the Tsuchikage, wants me to go on active duty again," explained Hissori. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"What does that mean?" asked Kita. Now the worried tone set in.

Hissori's eyes were trained on the half-finished plate of food before him. He wasn't staring hungrily; it was as though he wanted to look at anything but his daughter's eyes. Not wanting to see the pain, either from her or in his own heart. "Odds are by tomorrow afternoon I'll be away on a mission – a long one probably. I don't know how long I'll be away for."

"But… but…" Kita chewed her bottom lip. Tears started to drip down her cheeks. "I don't want you to go!"

Hissori had to rebalance himself as the girl crawled onto his lap and clung to him tightly. And for a moment, he thought about reconsidering. Nothing felt strange, the worries he had seemed silly. His child was crying for him not to leave.

But everything came rushing back though once the moment had passed. The suffering he'd been through, and now this child, who he felt like he knew nothing truly about, was hugging him. That something so unlikely could contain an ultimate evil, and here it was crying on his shoulder. _Nekomata… _He was supposed to be a father to this – _No! _Hissori told himself. He'd made a silent promise to himself, and to Minami, that he'd never refer to their child as a 'thing' regardless of what happened. On the verge of using the word, the shame he felt was almost too great.

"Kita, the village needs me again. It's important I do my part. You'll find out when you become a ninja too. Everything will be alright, Bara-san will be coming to pick you up from academy and looking after you until I'm back. I promise I'll finish as quickly as I can and be right back." He squeezed her tightly. "You know I won't leave you."

"You really promise?" Kita hiccuped through the tears.

"Yeah, really," he smiled and held out a pinky finger. Kita grabbed onto it tightly. She nodded, acknowledging his pledge. Seemingly satisfied, she crawled off his lap and back to her seat.

Hissori continued to stare at his food, however. _A deal with the devil… Don't they always say he takes your soul in return?_

* * *

**A/N:** The old gang is slowly coming back together…

**Names:**

**~Jotei** **– **Empress

***Yanagi – **Willow

**~Ishi** – Stone

***Tansei – **Cultivation/Training (although can also mean handsome)

**~Kigaino **– Strong spirit (no = of)

***Sora – **Sky

Thanks for reading! Feedback is more than welcome!


	3. Resonant Memories

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **I forgot to do a little something I always liked to do – theme songs, haha.

Opening theme: The Beautiful People – Marilyn Manson

Ending theme: Nephilim – Abingdon Boys School

* * *

**_Chapter 3: Resonant Memory_**

Paper creations flew around the classroom. The same weary-looking chuunin sat at the desk up the front, wondering what possessed him to take the job teaching new enrolments. He blew at a stray strand of hair dangling in front of his eyes before glancing over the new students. Enrolments were up this year – a slow, but steady trend over the past decade or so. Before that, numbers had obviously been thin, likely from the death toll of the war affecting families, and those deciding against getting their kids involved in the messy business of being a shinobi. Never mind that however – this was now and he had a class to get back to teaching since roll-call was over.

"Alright, so today is our first day combining the boys' and girls' classes together. We'll be doing these co-ed lessons every other day, so don't get your schedules messed up." The teacher ducked, a paper shuriken bouncing off the top of his head. He grumbled, wondering what also possessed him to show the class yesterday how to make paper weapons like that.

"Sensei! Sensei!" called a voice in the group. "Show us something cool!"

The man shook his head. "No, you're here to learn – this isn't some sort of magician's party."

"Show us something cool!" yelled someone else. Chaos erupted as the class began to chant the phrase. "Show us something cool! Something cool! Something cool!"

"_Henge_!"

Girls screamed. Boys gave yells of excitement. The bear growled angrily as it flailed its paws in the air at the class before vanishing in a cloud of smoke that filled the room. The noise intensified for a brief moment, something slammed with a bang, and then silence. The chuunin rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, disliking that he'd fallen to their pleas. But at least the class was calm…

The smoke cleared. The room was empty. The man's mouth dangled open. When? How? Noise came from outside, luring the man to the window. The entire class was in the playground acting as though it was already break-time. The man ran a hand down his face. "Sneaky little… fine, recess then," he muttered following with a sigh.

"Yanagi-chaaan!" an elongated call echoed across the playground. Sora waved frantically as he ran towards a group of three girls. He stopped before them, a wide grin on his face directed at the dark-haired one.

The girl gave him a deadpan look. "What?" she asked flatly.

Sora pouted with his back turned to her. His arms dangled limply. "Yanagi-chan's so mean, giving me that face and asking 'what?' so coldly!"

"I can hear you," she snapped at him. Yanagi groaned, switching her attention back to the other girls with her. "That's Sora, he's annoying."

"So cold…" muttered Sora depressingly. In an instant, he had turned back, wearing the same grin as before. "Yanagi-chan, you could introduce me, you know! Though… I sorta already know them." He scratched his cheek with embarrassment. "Hisae Ishi – daughter of the Tsuchikage, and cousin to Tansei Ishi, who is – well, somewhere around here…"

"I'm here," said a voice.

Sora blinked as Hisae squeaked, scuttling quickly behind the other girls. Her gaze was trained on the figure standing behind him.

"It's rude to sneak up on people, Tansei," commented Sora. The other boy shrugged. Sora shrugged back too awkwardly. "Never mind," he said, turning his attention to the last girl. Their eyes met. Then… silence. Not around them, but within. The usual whispers Sora heard from the world vanished as he stared into the girl's eyes. Nothing came from her, and even though the silence was something he'd always wanted to hear, this was… disturbing.

Tansei lifted an eyebrow at the girl. "Haven't seen you around before," he said dryly.

"Kita Mitsukai," she said bluntly.

"Oh, the 'Guardian of Stone's kid," Tansei said. He seemed satisfied with just her name. "Uncle said you have health problems."

"They've cleared up," she replied. Her gaze went back at the blue-haired boy, eyes almost curious. "Sora, was it?"

The boy flashed another grin, albeit hiding the nervous feeling in his stomach from her watch. "Bingo! Sora Kigaino – my mum works as an interrogator with the Internal Guard. Our families worked together in the past. I hope we can work together in the future too. Though…" His gaze sparkled at Yanagi. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're way too hopeful if you think we're going to be on a team or something together." She crossed her arms.

"So cold…" muttered Sora.

"Whatever," Yanagi replied. "I'm going to go play on the swings."

Hisae quickly ran out from behind Kita after her. "Ah! Wait for me, Yanagi-chan!"

"Kita-chan," said Tansei, catching her attention before she could run off as well. "Has your father ever done any training with you?"

"Only a little," she replied.

Tansei frowned slightly. "Only a little?" he inquired curiously.

"It's enough," she said simply.

He smirked in return, shrugging off the inquisitiveness for satisfaction. "Maybe we can spar together in the future."

"People talk too much about the future…" Kita muttered under her breath as she turned away briefly. She glanced up at Tansei. "Maybe," she nodded.

"Kiiiita!" Yanagi's voice called over the noise of the rest of the class. "You're missing out! I saved you a swing!"

"Excuse me," said Kita, running to the swings.

Tansei frowned, having caught her mumbled words. "Strange girl," he commented with a glance a Sora.

Sora frowned. There definitely was something strange with that girl all right. Just what did that silence mean, anyway? He'd never encountered anything like it. Even though his mother was an expert with their bloodline, even she couldn't completely silence herself. Sora was sure she'd once said it was impossible… unless perhaps there were no thoughts to begin with. This puzzle wrapped in the mind of a girl – even more puzzling than girls were to him already. A wave of goosebumps travelled up his arms, and Sora couldn't help but think it wasn't a good sign.

* * *

A woman rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited at the gate. Bara had matured since her first encounter with Kita – she'd risen to be a respected nurse in Iwa, and she was still full of hopes and ambition. There was something a little disappointing about being shunted down to babysitting, but with nothing but a lonely house to go home to most times, a distraction would be good.

She tried to stay positive for this experience. No matter who the child, even one such as Kita, perhaps this would be enriching? One day, maybe just one day she'd able to use what she'd learnt here to help in raising her own children.

She looked up as finally there was movement from the building as classes of children ran to the gate. Bara spotted a familiar hair colour.

"Ah, Kita-chan, did you have a good day at school?" she asked as the young girl walked over. She offered her hand to her.

Kita nodded and took her hand. "Did Dad go on a mission already?"

"Looks like it'll just be you and me for about a week then," replied Bara. She had to worry at the girl's silence following it. But she was even more worried about the girl's father. It didn't quite seem like Hissori to suddenly walk so easily into a mission like this when for the past seven years he'd done little more than push papers. It was hard for her to tell if something was wrong. Even though she felt like she was somewhat on good terms to both Hissori and Kita, she still felt like there was something she was being left out on. The two were very good at hiding things. She sighed. "Would you feel better if I made any meal you wanted?"

The girl shook her head. "Not hungry."

"Kita-chan, I've talked to you about eating right before remember? Just because you don't feel hungry doesn't mean your body doesn't need it. I've drilled your father about it enough times as it is. You've been going to bed early too, haven't you?" She frowned. Hissori, although she knew he loved Kita, it always felt like he was a little careless with her.

"I hate going to bed early," Kita muttered. "It's boring, and I'm not sleepy then. I'd rather stay up."

Bara turned her head to not let the girl see her agitated look. Kita was stubborn, just like her father it seemed. However, she'd still have to do her best to seem like a parent to the girl to. Bara glanced down at the girl, trying to think of someway to cheer her up.

"Bara-san," said Kita quietly. It was a questioning tone really. "You used to be a ninja, right?"

The woman nodded, giving a chuckle. "I wouldn't say you ever 'stop' being a ninja. I just decided to become a nurse, where I thought I could be of more help."

"That still sounds like it was a long time ago," mumbled Kita.

"It wasn't that long ago," Bara replied as she eyed the girl irritably. "I'm only twenty-eight. That's just two years older than your father, you know. I started my medical training at fifteen." She sighed again, realising that to a kid, any number over their own age must have sounded old. A slight smile spread on her lips. "Never mind though. Was there something else you wanted to ask?"

Kita paused a moment before speaking. "Dad doesn't teach me a lot of things. Everyone at school expects me to be some kind of genius."

"Oh," said Bara, an air of awkwardness in her tone. "Did you want me to teach you?"

The girl gave a short nod. No 'please', no 'thank you', just a nod. Bara gave a crooked smile. Again, there it was – that feeling that there was something more going on between those two than how it seemed. She wasn't an intentionally curious person by nature, so going out of her way to find out about things that shouldn't concern her was rare. But this concerned her, right? She was just as much a part of Kita's life making sure she was staying healthy and such. To go snooping around and using a child as the information source though… Well, she guessed it'd be even harder to get anything out of Hissori.

"Well, what kind of things would you like to learn?" Bara asked. If she used this opportunity right, she could definitely get some more clues.

"Chakra," she said.

Bara's smile grew a little more confident. "Nice choice. If there's one thing I know, it's chakra control."

The two continued to walk in silence for a while, the sun on their backs. The streets got quieter as they reached the area of the old Mitsukai house.

"With Dad gone," said Kita suddenly. She paused, the same blank look on her face as they walked. "Can I call you Mother?"

The smile Bara had kept from before faded. What kind of question was that? Mother? Bara frowned for a moment. "Kita-chan, I don't think…"

"Please?" asked the girl, turning to her. Her fingers tightened their grip on Bara's hand as tears began to well up. "I-I just thought you'd like it. Please?"

Bara sighed. She couldn't say no to that kind of face.

"Just don't tell anyone," she whispered with a touch of worry in her tone.

* * *

On the night Hissori returned, he walked in to find a mess of papers on the living room floor. Bara was asleep at the table, head resting on her arms. It seemed as though she'd had a stressful few days. The mass of papers grabbed his attention again as he bent to pick one up, a puzzled expression on his face – Kita had hardly ever been the type of child to draw. She was more of a reader really, having found her sometimes late at night in the upper sections of the house where old books were kept. But sometimes that was a little puzzling in itself as well, and there'd been more than a few times where he'd worried himself to the point of feeling ill at what she was looking at – and not from the concerned parental viewpoint either. A pinch of paranoia that something else was reading those books too. That 'N' word clawed at his conscious.

He stared at the drawing in his hand. He wouldn't exactly say it was a dark drawing like he was expecting. It was a field full of flowers. He squinted beyond the flowers and the stick figures in the foreground. There were grey blobs in the background… Another picture on the ground caught him – this one had the grey blobs again, but more featured. He swapped the drawings in his hands to stare at the new one.

Gravestones, he was sure. Especially when he saw the one in the middle – it looked just like Minami's grave. She'd even drawn the same sort of flowers he always placed on it.

But of course it was likely she would draw something like this. He took her to graveyard every time with him. He didn't know why he would take his daughter to such a place, it almost seemed like a taboo thing to do – something horribly obscene and horrifying that would leave an ugly stain thus anyone knew the truth. Any other parent would be disgusted at the idea of letting their child wallow in the memories of death, even if their family was built upon it like the Mitsukai. They had their own section of the graveyard, and he'd buried Minami there with them, to show he loved her just as much as he loved every other member of his family. He'd always bring her a bouquet like he used to, and he'd let Kita place flowers on the graves of the rest of the family – people she never knew and never would.

He realised, he'd never let Kita put the bouquet on her own mother's grave. It was something he always did. Not because it was a tradition, but because… Well, it wasn't a nice thing to think about. It just always felt like leading his daughter home.

_Leading the Nekomata home…_

But the drawings on the ground were bright and colourful. Despite the graves, there were scenes of life in every one, even such small things as m-shaped birds flapping in the distance or vivid green trees scattered leaves in the wind.

These weren't the sorts of drawings you'd get from a demon. There were no spiralling black vortexes or puddles of fresh red blood. Nothing obscene, everything normal…

Too normal?

A gasp. "Oh, Hissori! You startled me!" Bara was clutching her chest, breaths coming in short bursts from the initial shock of finding someone standing over her. She sighed in relief, her eyes looking around at the mess on the floor. "Sorry, I meant to clean this up before you got back. I guess it's just been a long week. Kita's so stubborn, how you get her to bed is beyond me."

Hissori gave a smile of embarrassment, almost because he had hoped she wouldn't wake. "It's no problem, really, Bara-san. I'll take care of it, you just get yourself home for a proper rest."

"No, no, it's okay," she rushed, both in speech and in gathering the scattered paper. "You're the one who should be resting after a mission. Would you like some tea perhaps?"

Tea seemed like a good idea. He nodded, getting a smile in return from Bara as she took the papers with her to the kitchen. He could hear the kettle start to boil a few minutes' later. She returned with two cups and they started to talk. Hissori soon found himself smiling for real this time as Bara told him stories about embarrassing accidents she'd seen come into the hospital – there seemed to be a lot of kids who liked to super-glue things to their faces. It was the first time in a long time he had really found himself feeling comfortable with someone's company. Not since Minami, actually.

But even as he talked to Bara, he could only keep seeing his wife's face flashing before him. Minami's features overlapped with the other woman before him. They both gave a laugh, their eyes sparkling with amusement.

He'd left the picture Kita drew of the graves on the table. The flat imitation of death's memory sat upon the living room table, staring up at the light, with the scribbled bouquet of flowers he had placed there to show his enduring sense of loss. Maybe even guilt. He was sure in another one of those pictures Bara had bundled up was a zoomed-out view of the entire graveyard. With he and his daughter journeying towards their own little section, flowers in one hand, holding each other's hand in another.

Him leading his daughter to the graveyard of guilt, where he was also sure she'd drawn their own graves too waiting to be filled.

Bara/Minami took a sip of tea. Minami's eyes stayed on him whilst Bara stared at her drink.

* * *

**A/N:** Any feedback would be much appreciated, thank you. And hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	4. Empty Hearts

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but next chapter's gonna be a good one. Also, if I don't get a new chapter out by next week, happy holidays everyone!

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Empty Hearts_**

The routine was usual now after a few months, as Bara sat on the front porch with tea in one hand and a book in the other. Warm light spilled out from the room behind her and out into the yard. The woman glanced back into the house, sure she had heard something. She shrugged it off – Kita was probably moving about in her sleep again. That girl usually ended up in a bundle of blankets by the morning requiring the Jaws of Life to get her out.

Bara went back to her book. The heroine was running away from her mother so she could be with the man she loved. She didn't blink at the term, although it had been a little funny at first to be called 'Mother' by Kita as the girl went to bed. But just like the routine, the term was usual too. Except in public – true to her word, Kita had never used it in front of her father or in openly public places.

"Still reading those books, Bara?" The front gate squeaked open. Hissori carried his bag to the porch and tossed it casually into the room behind before taking a seat beside the woman.

"Even a nurse like me wishes for a little romance amongst all the blood and surgeries," smiled Bara. She hadn't quite noticed when Hissori had begun to drop the formalities with her – not that she had minded anyway. She closed the book to place it down. "Did the mission go well?"

"Like clockwork," replied the man. He had peeled his gloves off. Bara stared at the cut on his hand. Noticing her gaze, Hissori gave a crooked smile of his own. "Except for this – you'd think someone like me would be able to dodge a couple kunai. I'm still rusty though."

Bara huffed to herself. "Nonsense, we all make mistakes. Come on, you need to get that washed before it gets infected." She followed him into the kitchen, finding the first aid kit in the cupboard.

Hissori held his hand under the water, the dirt and dried blood washing away down the drain. The two began to talk about pleasant things now, as they usually did. Bara was always sure to talk about nice things, ones that wouldn't stir up memories and keep his mind off things like missions. Over the past few months she had come to realise The Way Things Were, and it had shocked her at first to see how fine a line it all was. She hadn't exactly pressured the information from Kita, the girl had said it of her own freewill. Regardless, she was amazed at the pieces that came together. It was like everything had been a clue, even in how Hissori looked at her.

The man was lonely. Desperately so. And for some reason the presence of his own daughter even failed to comfort that void. Kita's instincts to reach out to her father were waning, having instead turned to reaching out to all others as a substitute. No wonder Kita wanted to call her 'Mother'.

She continued to talk about those pleasant things with the hope perhaps even such small talk with him could help to fill that void. Even just a little, she wanted to help.

"Thanks for looking after things here," Hissori said quietly and unexpectedly as she pulled out bandages from the kit and placed the antiseptic creams away.

"You say that every time," replied Bara with a sigh. She examined his hand as she treated it. "And you know what I say in return every time as well – 'It's no problem' – and stop moving already. Be a man and stop squirming like a child."

"Sorry…" muttered Hissori. He closed his eyes briefly, something obviously on his mind. "It's just… really, thank you."

The two stared at each other

Bara blinked at the man's words. She lowered her head, a blush flushing across her cheeks in response. What was wrong with her? It suddenly felt like something had fallen into place after so long. Although her face was still red, she glanced up at the man. His eyes pierced hers – his desperately lonely eyes that, like Kita, were reaching out for something… someone. A shiver tingled down her spine as they grew closer to each other instinctively. She thought she heard a noise from the back rooms, but again she shrugged it off.

This was something Kita shouldn't know about. If only because the girl would realise she could never fill her father's heart herself.

* * *

It was a little hard to believe for Sora. Given his first impressions, he'd never really thought he'd end up considering the girl a 'friend'. It had been awkward at first, suffering that silent trail that followed her, but he'd grown used to it. There was still something a little strange however that he couldn't seem to shake. Just a bad feeling? He wasn't sure.

But, how could he avoid her? Yanagi-chan always hung out with Kita. It wasn't like he could ignore her when he wanted to hang out with Yanagi-chan.

"A difficult situation," he muttered.

"Stop talking to yourself." Tansei raised an eyebrow at him. The two were sitting in a tree eating lunch not far from the girls. Yanagi had terrorised them up into it, telling them the girls were having a private meeting. Tansei's expression was of distaste, and it wasn't from his sandwich. "I shouldn't have to be sitting up here like some scaredy cat while the harpies have their girly talks."

Sora chuckled. It was rare to see Tansei all pouty like this, but even he had become rather afraid of Yanagi's aim with a shuriken lately. "They're probably talking about who likes who, and lame stuff like that." A grin spread over his face. "You think Yanagi-chan likes me?"

"Not a chance," retorted the other boy. Sora's shoulder drooped comically.

"Can't blame me for hoping," Sora grinned. "Come on, Tansei. Isn't there someone you think likes you too?"

Tansei frowned. "Geez, go join the girls if you're so interested in what they talk about."

"Ouch." Sora smirked after a moment. "You know, I might just…" A sudden clamber down the tree and he was off with arms flailing. "Yanagi-chaaaan, you're talking about me, riiiight?"

Screams came from the large group of girls. They scattered as Sora ran around wildly. Except for one – Kita stood up, the friendly smile on her face falling blank. She seemed to observe the scene. But as soon as that strange moment had passed, she was suddenly in the fray screaming and running like the rest. From the tree Tansei tilted his head.

"As if she didn't know how to react," he said quietly. He shrugged. "But a true ninja is devoid of feelings after all… That's the way it's supposed to be." He watched as Sora tiredly climbed up the tree again, his hair filled with an assortment of items that had been thrown at him. He was still grinning though as he pulled a soggy piece of bread from his amass of spikes.

"Happy?" he asked. Tansei rolled his eyes, earning a wider grin from his friend. It wasn't always obvious when Tansei thought something was funny, or if he liked something, but slowly Sora had begun to sift through the cool exterior to the little hints. There had been one thing bothering him though over these past few months. Hisae… It was the one subject that was completely taboo with Tansei. To think that they were cousins, yet they seemed like complete strangers to each other. Tansei treated her with indifference, even colder than to anyone else. And the rare times he had to approach her, the girl seemed terrified of him. The little hints had begun to pile up, but not enough for a clear answer. There was a level of tension between those two far greater than anything he'd seen before. He was almost afraid of what the answer could be.

* * *

For once, things felt peaceful with Benkei. Dirt crumbled from crevices in his boots onto his office table. He was shameless about it – not like it was some big secret he hated being cooped inside. Benkei always considered himself as the woodsman, out amongst nature doing a good day of hard, honest work. And if it was a particularly good day, he'd get to save some poor innocent soul from the big bad wolf and get to feel like being the hero.

Not today, however. He had to play the salary-man this time around and push papers. There was always something satisfying about conquering a stack of documents though. Sure it wasn't exactly the woodsman lifestyle, but it was still a day of hard, honest work.

He paused at the final folder on his desk. Another report on Kita, it seemed. He was always hesitant on reading these things. Just when a day seemed perfect, one of these would reappear to remind him of the tiny speck of darkness that lurked his own village. He glanced over it, the report was briefer than usual and Bara's handwriting scratchier as well, like she had been in a hurry. All seemed well with the girl though. She was doing okay in school and had made friends, still a little fussy on things like food and sleep, but she'd likely always be like that.

The Tsuchikage gave a sigh of relief, glad nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Maybe he was worrying for nothing about the whole Nibi subject. It's possible the girl could go through her entire life as a normal human and nobody would ever guess. She hadn't shown any remarkable talent at being a ninja, let alone any abilities that were out of the ordinary. Maybe the girl would never even figure out the secret she held inside herself either. Something like that would be the best he could hope for. The usage of these 'Jinchuuriki' as weapons had crossed his mind more than once, but with the girl showing no discernable talents, it was out of the question.

But then, how could he even if she did? To use the child of someone he basically viewed as a son was beyond his morals. He'd been raised to be a man of strong ethics and loyalties. It was these reasons why the previous Tsuchikage had chosen him as the Fifth. And he'd, albeit a little slower than he liked, brought Iwa out of the gloom that had shrouded the village since the last war. He'd done so without the help of any Jinchuuriki. It had been work – hard, honest work. No demons, no deals with devils. It was just him and the people that looked to the future rather than the past.

Besides, what could there to be gained revealing the existence of this girl? It wouldn't gain him favour with the village. He may gain favour with the governing bodies of the country, but honestly it was the people he was here for rather than higher powers.

A knock at the door broke his wonderings. Quickly he shoved Bara's report into a drawer. "Come on in," he called gruffly.

Green hair poked through the doorway. Tansei scuttled inside, shutting the door quickly after him. He was jerky in his movements as he approached the desk – definitely awkward compared to his usual confident self. "Uncle," he gulped.

The man removed his boots off the desk so he could sit properly. A dark look overcame his face, unable to hide the feeling he held inside. Tansei psychically froze at the sight of it.

"Tansei, if you've come to ask about training again, you know the answer."

The boy managed to break himself from his fear, a determined look overcoming his face. "Uncle, please. I want to be a good ninja for the village, and become strong like you! I can't do it unless you teach me."

"You get plenty of teaching at the academy," replied the Tsuchikage. His eyes were focussed above the boy's head, not quite acknowledging him.

"I'm not learning anything! I've been teaching myself at the library!" retorted the boy fiercely. "Your lessons with Hisae, she's just a waste…"

A fist slammed on the table. Tansei's mouth hung ajar mid-sentence, his eyes filling with terror. His uncle towered over him now, gaze burning into him. Despite the anger in his appearance, it was even more frightening to hear the hissed voice with a tone dripping in contempt. "You are not allowed to speak my daughter's name, not until you can stand before the two of us and give nothing more than a prideless apology. You know the deal with your parents and I – I refuse to give you any help in your training or to allow you to wear the symbol of this village until you right what you've done."

Tansei fled from the room, slamming the door after him. Benkei slumped down into his chair, placing a hand over his face. The grief within himself was so painful with the memories. He turned to the windows behind him where the sun had dipped behind the mountains.

"The soil of a man's heart is stonier," he muttered, "but despite this, we grow what we can and tend to it."

* * *

**A/N:** Points if you can guess where that last line comes from. It's a book that gave me quite a bit of inspiration surprisingly.


	5. Wilting Flowers

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **I hope everyone had a nice new year! Here's a shiny new chapter for you all.

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Wilting Flowers_**

It'd been months since it started… Hissori's heart was burdened with too much, a guilty secret that created a void of self-loathing. But here he was, right in the middle of a fiasco that he refused to admit to himself, let alone out loud. He felt as though the world would crumble around him if even a word escaped.

When he went to lay flowers at Minami's grave, it felt more like he was spitting on it. And when he entered the gate home that night, he couldn't look into Bara's eyes although she had planted her lips on his.

Kita had no idea of course. He couldn't bear with the fact if she did. In fact, she hardly ever spoke of Bara at all despite how much time they spent together. It was as if he and her were two different worlds to the girl – night and day. Just like the relationship he and Bara secretly shared – a horrible secret that would only tarnish reputations and break his heart. It wasn't a relationship born out of love to him, and he was sure she knew it as well despite her romantic imagination. It was just… something. That want for company.

But such a want, in hindsight, would be what led to disaster for all involved. It would be the start of Hissori's secretly crumbling world.

Bara could only stare as Hissori stumbled through the front gate seemingly drunk. His eyes were bloodshot, but from tears streaming down his face. She ran to him, grabbing him before he tripped and supported him to the deck to sit down.

"Hissori! What's wrong? Are you hurt? Are you okay?" She didn't see any wounds on him, but something was obviously wrong.

The man buried his face in his hands. His voice came out a raw whisper. "It was part of the mission… I _had_ to kill her."

"Kill who?" Bara's fingers gripped tightly onto his shoulders.

Hissori's shaking hand pulled a scrunched up piece of paper from a pocket. "Her… Don't you see it?"

Bara flattened it out, trying to discern what he was talking about. It was a photograph of a young woman, taken secretly of course. She wasn't quite sure though. "Hissori…" she started with a tone on the edge of dismissive.

Hissori could only shake his head, still buried in his palms. "She looked just like Minami," he croaked out. "She looked so much like her, and I had to slice her head off. The man that ordered the assassination… he wanted her head as proof. I had to carry her like that with her dead eyes staring up at me whenever I had to open the bag! She looked so sad, just like Minami's face when she died." Hissori was trembling; his arms had dropped onto his knees, his hands almost mimicking the motion of opening a bag.

"It was just a mission, just a mission," whispered Bara comfortingly. She draped herself over him in a warm embrace, hoping his thoughts would go away so that they could talk about pleasant things once more.

Her face was right next to his as he continued to grieve. It was like losing Minami all over again, but this time by his own hands. The head in the bag continued to plague his thoughts, all the while his wife's features still overlapped with Bara's whenever he glanced across at her. It was torture, a cruel harsh torture. Like something a devil would do to weaken your soul before consuming it.

Was this something he would be forced to endure for eternity? Forever stumbling back onto the memory of his beloved, and each time it would become darker and most twisted until the face contorted to the true demon that was making him suffer?

Perhaps the demon was already nearby though. The dark thoughts in the back of his mind clawed at his conscious. That word, over and over… _Nekomata, nekomata, nekomata…_ And Kita's blank face stared at him. What had happened to the good times? Where the three of them would sit in the garden under the trees eating lunch? And Minami would laugh as Kita twirled about in the bright sunshine and urge them both to join her…

But those times were gone.

"Minami, we need to talk about our daughter," he said quietly.

Silence…

"Minami?" he asked again, more desperately.

"Hissori… Minami's dead."

The man blinked, realising what had happened. Bara stared at him with deep concern. No overlapping faces, just Bara's worried eyes.

Of course… those good times had never happened. _Naught but a dead dream._

It felt like he could see clearly again, but like after a nightmare there was still something of a cloud hanging over his head filled with lingering feelings. His was of too many emotions to name.

"Hissori," murmured Bara again worriedly.

"I'm okay," he replied softly with a shake of his head. "You should get home for some sleep, Bara. I'll be fine. I just need some… time alone." He stood up, dislodging Bara from her embrace.

Despite the protests she put up, he managed to convince her to go back home. The quiet of the house now surrounded him, making those echoing thoughts louder than ever whilst he flicked off the lights and closed the doors. The house was in darkness now sans the lone streetlight outside the fence that cast a dull light through the rice paper doors and into the hallway. It was cold. Hissori's faded shadow against the streetlight's beams stretched down the hallway towards the back rooms, where Kita was kept. Silently, he made his way to her door to stand just before it. Bara presumed he always tucked Kita in at night like she did. She couldn't be more wrong. Once he told Kita to go to bed and she shut that door, he would never enter – it had been that way ever since she had woken him with such hope that one morning so long ago. The night after that miracle, when he had gone to wish her goodnight, he simply found he couldn't bring himself to touch the doorhandle.

And the reason was still as it was now. As he stood there, staring at the doorway, he felt like his airway was constricting in fear. It was one of those eerie feelings, instinctual but you always thought your mind was just playing tricks on you. Like flickering shadows out of the corner of your eye, and you turn to see nothing there. Or feeling like someone was in the room with you, watching. Waiting.

Perhaps even standing on the other side of that door, staring at the wood like you did likewise, wondering what was on the other side – waiting to see what would happen if it opened. _If_ _it opened_…

But he couldn't do it. Behind that door, it felt like something was smiling at his cowardness. Something was grinning with too many teeth at his apprehension. He couldn't even open a door to say goodnight to his own daughter. He turned away from the door to go to his own room.

"Minami… I'm sorry. Forgive me, _please_."

He wished this was all some terrible dream, but the reality was that he wished he could stay in his dreams rather than this world. In his dreams nothing ever went wrong. Minami would be there and they'd do the sorts of things you should do on a great picnic day, eat ice cream and walk through the park. He and Minami would swing their daughter by the arms so she could pretend she was flying. They'd be a family.

He'd never gotten a chance at any of that though.

Maybe it'd be better if he stayed asleep. He didn't want to see a fake Minami looking out at him from Bara's eyes. He didn't want to see that empty smile only he could see from Kita.

…Maybe everything would be better in the morning.

He awoke to the smell of bacon drifting in from the kitchen. Minami often woke him up with that alluring smell, knowing how much he loved bacon and eggs in the morning. And then it hit him, that dark dreading feeling. Mingled with both a sick sense of hope and tentative fear, his feet carried him to the kitchen.

She was here.

Kita stared blankly at the frying pan as bacon crackled and spluttered. The table had been set already with one plate, toast and a steaming pile of scrambled eggs on top. She'd made a pot of tea as well as she shunted the heap of bacon onto the plate. Everything was complete.

It was sickening.

He sat down.

Kita glanced at him, putting that empty smile only he saw through on again. "It's family day, remember?"

_Family day…_ Of course, it was the day they went to the graveyard. He almost didn't want her to come this time. She always seemed far too glad to be in that place. "Kita, why don't you go play with some of your friends today? You don't always have to come."

"But I like going to see everyone." The smile slowly vanished. "I got something for Mama too."

Hissori's jaw clenched tightly as the girl walked into the hallway and came back with a bunch of flowers. Lilies – Minami's favourites.

"I got them this morning, so you wouldn't have to go get them yourself. I wanted to get them for once so they could be a present from me." She placed the lilies in her father's hands and waited for an answer.

"That's… great." He stared at the flowers, unbelieving that she could have done such a thing. "I know, you can go play with your friends and I'll deliver them for you then. How about that?" It was a flaky request really, for a moment he didn't think it'd work.

"You'll make sure you'll tell Mama they're from me?" she asked. "I asked the florist to write on the tag they are."

He nodded slowly. "Of course."

Kita smiled widely before taking off towards her room to get her things. She ran by the kitchen, yelling a quick 'see ya'. Hissori sat in the now-empty house, the bouquet still in his hands. And he knew he'd have to take them with him.

The walk to the graveyard felt just the same as always. He'd never been without Kita, but with those flowers in his arms, it was almost like she really was there. It was a burden as he climbed the worn-away stairs leading up the hillside. He reached the top and entered an area fenced off with iron rails. A tree grew inside it, its limbs splaying off to the side where it cast shadows on the gravestones bearing the Mitsukai name. Hissori walked to the very end of the row where the tree's shadow wouldn't reach and put the markers in darkness.

"Did you miss me, Minami?" he asked the final gravestone. Her name was carved into it with beautiful lettering and the words 'My Only Angel' placed underneath. This was it, his angel's resting place. That beautiful woman would always be waiting for him here.

He kneeled down before it just like he had when he'd asked her to marry him. The bouquet hovered above the gravestone in his grip. The tag with 'Love from Kita' dangled from the string tied around the bottom. Hissori's hands shook as he stared at the tag. That tag…

_Her _tag…

In that moment, all the things that had been plaguing his mind hit him. The night before, his guilt about his relationship with Bara, and that eternal nightmare that haunted him from behind that child's smile. He felt like he had nothing much left in his control now. Everyday Kita's smile would grow a little less child-like, and Bara would think she was helping heal his sorrowful heart. Even Benkei would think he was helping by slapping him on the back and telling him what a great guy he was.

Lies. All lies. He wasn't even sure who he was now. The rest of Iwa saw him as a hero, but what had he done that had been so heroic? Being too young to go to war so he could avoid being slaughtered like the rest of his family? Live through the grief of losing the one thing in this world he had loved so dearly? Feeling like he was cheating on his dead wife while he had dreams he'd kill his own daughter so he could feel free?

Yeah, he sure was a heroic guy.

He threw the flowers in someone's trashcan as he walked back home.

* * *

There was something a little strange about Kita today, Sora remarked to himself. Although he couldn't figure out what it was over exactly, the girl obviously seemed pleased about something… Like she had a secret she wouldn't tell any of them. Sora figured he really should stay out of that girl's life, but it was unavoidable today when he wanted to hang out with Yanagi (she'd invited them to the park). And unfortunately, it seemed like both Hisae _and_ Tansei couldn't make it. In fact, he hadn't seen Tansei in the past few days – but he'd grown used to that – every now and then Tansei would stay home to do training by himself. As for Hisae, he wasn't sure really.

Oh well…

"Yanagi-chan, do you want me to push you?" he yelled at the swings where the girl had just gotten on. She rolled her eyes at him. Typical response, but bugging her like that made him grin.

Kita was rocking back and forth gently on the other swing, not exactly the type to get into 'who can go higher?' competitions. She had a small smile on her face, though it was a bit too strange for Sora. The girl blinked, noticing his stare upon her. Her smile widened to a friendly grin.

Funny, he hadn't really picked up on it until now but a lot of the expressions Kita pulled seemed awfully familiar. Like they were from other people – wasn't that grin the same one he'd give to Yanagi? Maybe this had something to do with whatever illness she'd had when she was younger – he remembered Tansei saying something about it before. But was it really fair to feel just a little creeped out by the girl? Maybe if he didn't have this bloodline he'd act just the same as everyone else, and he'd feel like he was a real friend with this girl.

"Sora! Didn't you hear me?" Yanagi's silhouette was dark against the sun in his vision. She poked him in the nose, giving him a look of somewhat friendly irritation. "I asked if you could get the drinks out for everyone. Mum packed us lunch."

The blue haired boy came back to reality. "Ah, sorry… Why'd you get off the swings so quickly?"

She sighed. "It's no fun if you can't have a 'who can go higher' contest. Kita's being boring today." She dragged the basket forward and pulled a blanket out from it. "Mum packed way too much food."

Sora grinned again. "I'll eat it!"

"No you won't!" The girl flicked him in the ear. "Don't be silly."

"But I love being silly." He pouted at her. He glanced up as Kita joined them on the blanket. That mental silence was really starting to bug him…

"I was supposed to go see Mama today," she said suddenly. She had a thoughtful look on – hadn't he seen that one from that nurse that looked after her every now and then?

Yanagi continued pulling drinks and sandwiches out. Hardly anything stopped her once she started on a task. "Oh yeah, don't you go to the cemetery with your dad around this time?"

Kita shrugged. "He wanted some alone time with Mama I think. But it's okay, I bought some flowers for him to take with him, so it's like I'm with him too."

"Guess that's okay," replied Yanagi. "Why do you go up there all the time anyway? Seems like too much trouble. Cemeteries are so creepy too."

"They're not creepy." Kita glanced down at the sandwich Yanagi had given her. Sora was sure he'd never seen Kita bring lunch to school before, or even seen her eating before either. "And if it's your family, it should never be too much trouble, even if they're dead. That's what Dad says anyway."

Yanagi simply shrugged. "Still creepy to me."

"Maybe just a little," Kita smiled. Sora noted she hadn't touched her sandwich yet despite staring at it for some time.

"Hey, have you guys studied up on our end of year exams yet?" asked Yanagi suddenly. She smirked as Sora choked on his sandwich, obviously knowing such a question would throw him off. "I've been working really hard – the next Tsuchikage has to be strong _and_ knowledgeable you know. And I gotta show my parents that I can be just as good as anyone from a ninja family."

Sora thumped himself on the chest to get the sandwich down. He gasped for air dramatically, hoping for a little sympathy from Yanagi but getting none. Was it so much to ask for a little attention from her every now and then? He pouted. "Yanagi-chan, can you let me copy your notes? My mum's been doing her ambush training on me and it's hard to study!"

The dark haired girl flapped a hand at him dismissively. "No way, Sora. Do your own work."

Desperately, he looked over at Kita. The girl gave a crooked smile and shrugged. "You guys know I never write anything down."

"Pfft, yeah, Miss Genius…" Yanagi said sarcastically. "I see you sleeping in class. You're only ever awake for the last hour or so. It's a wonder you're barely squeaking past at all…"

Kita glanced up at the sun. She frowned. "I need to get going, I'm late for something."

Before either Yanagi or Sora could inquire any more, she had gone, the dry autumn leaves on the ground picking up behind her. Sora looked back at where Kita had sat. She'd never touched her food in the end. Yanagi frowned at it as well before cleaning it up hastily. Sora gave her a strange look – did Yanagi perhaps see the same sort of things he did? He wasn't quite sure to ask or not.

"What's that look for?" asked Yanagi with an equally strange expression on her face. She crossed her arms.

"It's… nothing," he replied. His brow twitched. "No, actually… What would you think if we ended up in a team together – you, me and Kita?"

Yanagi thought about it before replying. "Dunno. But I'd much rather have Tansei-kun in my team than you."

Guess she didn't quite see things the same way then… He feigned shock for her. "But Yanagi-chaaan, that's so meaaan!"

The girl smirked. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens then."

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you liked the chapter everyone!


	6. Where I Went Wrong

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Nothing to report.

* * *

**_Chapter 6: Where I Went Wrong_**

Hissori looked up as Kita walked through the front door. He instantly wished he'd closed the door to the living room – if only for a few more seconds' peace before being discovered.

"Did you give Mama my flowers?" she asked with that strange grin.

He nodded. It was a lie, but he nodded all the same. "I told her you bought them." He'd never bring himself to say things like 'I bet she'd think they were lovely'. He'd never said one thing like that before to Kita, not even a 'She'd be proud of you'. Somehow, talking like that only felt like it would make things worse. It was selfish, he knew that, but he just couldn't do it.

"It wasn't really me that bought them," said Kita thoughtfully. "Mother gave me the money for them."

Oh. Wait, what…?

Silence.

"_Mother_?" Hissori stared at the girl. Kita covered her mouth like it had slipped out. "Who is 'Mother'?"

Kita's eyes darted around the room. Hissori hardened his glare on her until she gave up. Her fingers played with the edge of her skirt nervously. "Bara lets me call her Mother."

More silence.

"But she is, isn't she?" asked Kita, her voice dripping in innocence. "She always kisses you when you get back and she hugs you all the time… So I just thought…" She trailed off, giving him an expression full of uncertainty.

"Go to your room, Kita." Hissori's hands clenched painfully. How? How did she know? Every time he got back, Bara had assured him that she'd sent the girl to bed. So why…? Why now? Kita was still standing there. She just stared at him, with those eyes that he never saw any love from. "_Go to your room, Kita_!" he yelled at her. His fist slammed upon the table. The wood creaked under him. He knew there was anger in his voice, but he didn't care.

The girl gave him one final glance before skulking dejectedly off to her room. Hissori laid his head on the table, fists still clenched.

How could they? Bara had just let Kita call her 'Mother' like that? Hissori couldn't work out why – was it some sort of delusion that she could be Kita's mother, or worse, think that she had taken Minami's role in his life? He should have seen this coming, leading Bara on like that. But he was sure he had made it clear to her what their relationship was. She'd always talk about such nice things with him, and always listen when he talked about Minami. She'd listen so intently, and then… And then he'd start to see Minami's face overlapping Bara's. Is that why she listened? So she could learn everything about Minami and become like her to get closer to him? She'd been edging closer everyday, he realised. Without realising it, he'd begun to treat her like Minami as well. And she'd even have that gentle caring face that Minami always managed to have in every photo.

Hissori felt his throat constrict as he fought back the tears. He didn't want a fake Minami, nothing could ever replace her. There would have never been a better mother for Kita. The words Kita had said were stuck in his mind. To find out this right after what happened this morning, it was unthinkable.

Wait… No, it wasn't. The thought surfaced slowly – this morning, with the flowers, and last night… If Kita knew more than she let on, then perhaps she knew about his outburst last night. That slip of the tongue couldn't have been such a simple mistake. Had she simply been waiting for a moment of weakness like this to spring yet another trap on him? Everyday he felt more tired, a little more each day, but it had been building up and tearing him apart inside.

And right there in the middle of it all was that one enigma that haunted him – the Nekomata. Again the word scratched at his mind, but this time worse than ever. _Nekomata, Nekomata, Nekomata, Nekomata…_ Over and over. That demon kept torturing him for the joy of seeing him squirm.

It had been watching him. In those eyes that never showed any love was just the look of that beast. It hadn't been Kita watching for a moment of weakness, it had been that creature. There was only that demon that sought to devour his soul.

It occurred to him that Kita couldn't have done this – Kita had never existed after all. From the moment that little bundle of blankets had been handed to him with that lifeless body in it, his world had ended. This was just hell now. He wanted to be free.

He _needed_ to be free.

He looked up from the table. When he had closed his eyes, it had been mid-afternoon, but now it was dark and quiet outside. He staggered to his feet and across the hallway to the kitchen. He opened the first drawer and grabbed what he needed. There were no thoughts in his mind as he stumbled down that hallway to the final door. Here, after so many times staring at that door nervously, he was no longer afraid. He'd just do this and he'd be free.

The door swung open to the dark room. Only the pale moon shone any light into here, barely outlining the lump lying in the bed.

He wouldn't do this in the dark though. He needed to see it. He flicked the switch to the light. The thing in the bed groaned and sat up. "Dad…? What are you doing?"

_Shunk…_

It fell back onto the bed. Metal glinted from the knife sticking out of its chest. The creature gave a single bloody cough and drew a rattled breath before its eyes went dull. Hissori stared into them; lifeless, nothing. Just as how it was supposed to be.

He flicked the light switch off and closed the door. Now he was free.

* * *

Hissori awoke in the morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. He gave a brief smile – Minami was cooking him breakfast. He groaned as he pulled himself up from the table. Had he fallen asleep on that thing again? Minami would have a fit at him, not to mention his back hurting from the awkward position. It didn't matter though; he'd just walk up to her, give her a surprise kiss on the cheek and promise to bring back some lilies for her later. She was almost _too _forgiving of him sometimes.

He froze at the doorway as he saw long silver hair. Slowly, he came to his senses. Kita was setting the table again, shovelling scrambled eggs onto a plate. She turned back to the bench and began to slice up a tomato – the same knife he was sure he'd used last night. She seemed to be ignorant of his presence for a moment before she turned to him, the knife in her hand still.

"Morning," she said brightly.

Hissori ran from the kitchen to the back room and threw open the door. Sunlight poured in, it looked like any normal messy room. Not one sign of what happened last night. Kita walked out into the hallway.

"Aren't you coming for breakfast?" she called to him.

He had to get out of this madhouse. There was no way… no way it couldn't have happened. He was so sure, it had been too real. He heard Kita's footsteps coming towards him as he continued to stare into her room.

"Dad…?" she asked. She stood next to him and glanced into the room. "It's messy. I'll clean it up later… Don't you want breakfast?"

Without answering, he grabbed his bag from his room and ran for it. He left Kita staring out the front door, the girl still holding the knife.

* * *

Bara began to see something change in Hissori. Ever since that night he'd come back a wreck, it seemed to have gotten worse. She found herself greeting him at the door with a first aid kit in hand. He'd never go to the hospital – he was too proud and stubborn a man to admit himself for a few cuts and bruises. But what could she do apart from help him into the house and try to make him comfortable? He'd become distant, not even seeming to hear what she said. And anytime he said her name, it was 'Bara-san'. It seemed like all the work she'd done to try and make him happy had crumbled away.

Worse still, and although she wasn't always around to see the extent, she could see that he had started to completely ignore Kita. The girl simply didn't seem to exist in his mind. He never even made eye contact with her. Unsure what to do, Kita had at first tried to get his attention – drawing pictures for him, trying to cook meals and such – but as the weeks dragged on she had simply given up altogether. She threw herself into her schoolwork instead and often Bara had to go out into the forests in order to find her for dinner.

It was tiring, to say the least. Why was she doing this anyway? That thought often rose up in her mind each day, but she quickly pushed it aside. There was no way she'd just stand idly by while she knew what was going on in this house. It saddened her, but she'd keep that smile on her face when Hissori came home and put it on whenever she tried to cheer Kita up. She just didn't know what to do anymore. Tell Benkei-sama? He wasn't exactly the best person to talk to about emotional matters like this – he tended to have a slight black-and-white view of the world. And she had Hissori's reputation to think about as well. How would the higher-ups react to such news that one of their top ninja was having psychological difficulties? This was something you just didn't talk about in this day and age. She'd been told enough stories at the hospital – as long as the ninja was doing his job properly and had all the necessary appendages there was no problem – it just didn't exist. It was almost a requirement to have a psychological malfunction in this profession. It was one of the reasons she got off of the career-path as quickly as she could.

But she always ended up dragged right back into that world like she was now. This world would always have its dirty grip on her.

The front gate swung open and Hissori staggered through clutching his arm. Blood dripped onto the pathway. He had those dull eyes on again. She rushed to his side just as the man passed out. A simple first aid kit wouldn't fix him this time.

"For my sake, please wake up to reality," she whispered to the unconscious man. "You're stronger than you think."

* * *

"Can I go see Dad at the hospital today, Bara-san?" asked Kita. Just like her father, she'd somehow begun to call Bara by her name now. The days of 'Mother' had long seemed to have gone.

Bara looked up from her cup of tea and nodded. "You go get ready first and then we'll leave."

This was the third time in so many months that the man had ended up there. The bags under Bara's eyes were getting darker. She'd tried to get Hissori to take time off, but just as Kita had thrown herself into her schoolwork, Hissori had also thrown himself into his own. It hadn't gotten any better though – the injuries were continually getting worse. Bara suspected that when Hissori was asked about his injuries in the missions he said he'd been careless, or he'd been the one to request a high-ranked mission in the first place. He was still completing them, and that was all that mattered it seemed. His file got lost amongst the dozens of other cases that went into the hospital each week.

Kita walked back into the kitchen. She had changed clothes – a white sundress for a spring day. Bara smiled at it, she'd bought the dress as a birthday present for her back in Winter. It was finally a nice enough day to wear it. Kita saw her smile and went quiet. Bara was sure it was because the dress also carried a sad memory with it as well. How could a father simply ignore his daughter's birthday like that? Kita had been so excited at the prospect of having a party with her father there. Instead the man had spent the day at the cemetery.

Of course, Kita's birthday was also the day Minami had died. Eight years on and Hissori still wouldn't even give a little of his time to say a simple 'Happy Birthday'.

The hospital was quiet on the upper levels where patients were sent for recovery. Downstairs was a mess as usual, but not here. Only the echoing sounds of hard-heeled shoes on linoleum filled the hallways and the occasional beep from a life-support machine in someone's room. Hissori's room was hidden down the end of a corridor hardly used. Bara almost suspected he asked for it – to be away from the noise most likely. She knew those tiny beeps from the life-support machines made him afraid and remember _that_ time.

The man had his face towards the window, facing away from the two that had just entered. She was about to announce their arrival when Kita tugged on her sleeve.

"Can I talk to Dad alone? Please?" she asked with those large begging eyes.

She gave a crooked smile. She didn't want to give away her thoughts so clearly – that Hissori would likely ignore the girl. But… she couldn't say no. "If you really want to, then okay. I'll go check the inbox in my office for mail. I'm sure I've gotten quite a bit over the past few days. If you want me though, you just come find me, alright?"

The girl nodded. Bara sighed when she wasn't looking and stepped out. She closed the door behind her, but paused. She wasn't sure why she paused like that. Perhaps it was curiosity?

"I've been trying to be a good daughter, haven't I? I don't know where I went wrong…"

Bara couldn't stay though. Hearing those words made her heart break in more ways than she thought possible. Where had _she_ gone wrong? Not Kita… herself. She felt as though she'd done more wrong than that little girl ever could.

* * *

**A/N:** Dang, I did it again with the cliffhanger. Sorry about the slightly shorter chapter than usual, but I swear the next one will make up for it.


	7. A Smile Unmasked

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Hope you guys enjoy this one. I have some notes down the bottom this time.

* * *

**_Chapter 7: A Smile Unmasked_**

The girl's eyes glanced back at the door, waiting for the footsteps to fade away. Bara had finally gone. She fiddled with the edge of her dress for a moment before walking over to the other side of the bed and leaning against the window to look outside. The courtyard outside was full of patients getting fresh air and stretching. Dark clouds loomed over the mountain ridge, the wind picking up and swirling leaves in the courtyard. She hummed quietly to herself, a melancholy tune Hissori had never heard before. He glanced at the girl.

"What's that song?" he asked.

"They used to sing this song when warriors died," she replied. Her voice was a mixture of nostalgia and sadness as she stared out the window. "That was a long time ago. But even though the bodies have rotted away, the song lives in the soil itself. If you concentrate, you can hear it in the ground of battlefields."

"I see…" A cold wave prickled down Hissori's spine. So this was it, huh? The second that girl had asked to speak alone with him, he knew it was over. The illusion of 'Kita' had ceased to exist. "You're not Alice today then."

"Nor the White Rabbit," she added. "I don't intend to lead you down any rabbit holes of madness, Hissori. Perhaps the better phrase to have used would be 'Alice or Malice?', however."

The girl breathed on the cool glass, leaving a fog behind that quickly dissipated in the sunlight. Hissori was startled when she turned around. That empty smile he'd once seen had changed to something more. It was conflicting to finally see that mouth actually seeming to show some ounce of emotion. It was a terrible smile though, something too full of different emotions to pinpoint. Was it happiness? Sadness? It almost felt like the smile was a whisker away from twisting into something darker and truly terrifying. A smile of death…

"Why are you here?" he asked slowly. There was a fear here; he had to be careful in the face of this unmasked creature until he knew her motives. "Was it because I destroyed your plans when I stabbed you?"

She put a hand gingerly to her chest as he mentioned it. "As much as it _pained_ me, no…"

Hissori stared blankly at her as she used the pun. "Oh…"

The girl rocked back and forth on her heels. She was facing the window again, swirling a finger against the glass as the dark clouds in the distance came ever closer. "I could have gone right on pretending to be Kita."

She had him – it was a good point. "I don't think I understand why you're here still," he said.

"There was a time when the bijuu were all simpler creatures," she explained in a quieter tone. "We still are in a way, we have our instincts. But we do not bend so easily as you humans. Before we knew it, our time had come and gone and you were still here with your wars and your unrelenting anger. Even we bijuu do not thirst for power the way you humans do. And then we were gobbled up by your desires. I suppose we were destined to be, as it was you who created us. But despite this we still try to protect that which our duties dictate… Did you know I used to have an owner?"

Hissori frowned from confusion. He'd heard so many stories over the years about the bijuu, but even though one itself was telling him it had an owner…? That the feared Nibi had once been a tame little pussycat? He couldn't see the expression on her face with her back turned to him, if there was one at all. He just wished it wasn't that deathly smile again.

The girl hummed a few bars of that tune again, as though taking the time to summon up the oldest of memories. The tune even sounded more downhearted than before. "My owner was a beautiful woman destined to misfortune simply because she took pity on me. A bodyguard that served her father had fallen madly in love with her, to the point of obsession. Days after she'd rescued me her father died in mysterious circumstances. The bodyguard took her to his house under the guise of protecting her and hid her away in a secret room under his house. He gave her the most exquisite food and the most elegant clothes – only the best for my poor, naïve owner who didn't suspect she'd been kidnapped until it was too late. The man had made her his pet, and built her a cage to keep her in for his own entertainment. But soon the man's kindness turned to rage and his entertainment was nothing more than beating and raping her.

I became her last glimmer of happiness in her tiny enclosed world, and I chose to stay by her side even as I hid and watched that man rain blows down upon her. Although she was weak herself, she placed all her hope into me that one day I would be strong enough to escape. She would feed me from her bowl each day, even though she herself was withering away behind those bars, until one day I awoke next to her faded corpse. She'd placed too much hope in me and had died for it. When the man buried my owner's body under the cage, I tried to scratch him. I was simply looking for some sort of payback for that beautiful woman, even if it was something pathetic like that. I should have run, but instead I let myself get caught. And then…"

She turned her head to him, her expression completely void. Hissori felt himself shudder involuntarily. The girl pointed a finger to the side of her head limply.

"He placed my head under his sandal… and… _crunch_. Such a fragile thing is life. But killing me was that man's mistake. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. That's my favourite little saying you humans have come up with. My owner was a woman scorned, and like the good pet I was I did as was requested of me. She gave me her spirit so she could find vengeance."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Hissori as she took a breath. "I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? Sorry for that woman?"

The girl's eyes flickered to the courtyard below again, where patients and their nurses were retreating from the oncoming rain – retreating from the inevitable. "Perhaps I'm trying to give you some justification that you weren't just looking after some _thing_, Hissori. Because not all monsters are born as one, nor had any intention of becoming one. I certainly never did. But it was a monster that created me, and that monster was human. Who's to blame though? The man for what he did to my owner; or my owner for pushing her rage-filled spirit upon me? Perhaps even I am to blame though? I suppose a human will always point the accusing finger at whatever scares it the most. However, if you are to feel sorry for anyone, feel sorry for your kind, Hissori. The duty I protect is one that shows humans life is precious. How easily they throw it away… When the bijuu ravaged this world, war against your own kind was unheard of. You fought only to protect your lives, not march on other countries to decimate each other in such immature power struggles."

They stayed silent for a long time. The girl stared out of window, watching the pouring rain drift in a curtain towards them. Raindrops pattered rhythmically against the pane. She tapped at them, seemingly amused when the drops gathered to become big enough and slide down into tiny vertical streams.

"I was supposed to play a part in all this, wasn't I?" asked Hissori, eyes on the beads of water sparkling on the glass.

"You would have only had to put up with me for sixteen-seventeen years," she replied without looking back at him. "I'd have made some respectable rank, enough to get me onto solo missions. Then I'd have faked my death while I was away in some remote location that would be too hard to investigate. None would be the wiser. After all, the death of a shinobi in battle is perfectly natural… _right_, Hissori?"

A small noise of protest rose in his throat. She shrugged him off.

"I am no so oblivious to your "injuries", Hissori. How many times did you stare death in the face only to back out at the last second?"

He couldn't answer. And likely she knew that too. He was a coward. He'd been so since Minami's death – he couldn't even admit out loud to her grave he'd been seeing another woman. The girl tapped on the glass again, disrupting him. The feeling of shadows surrounding him dissipated with it.

"But really, it's rude of me to ask a question when I haven't answered the one already before me. It was 'why am I here', wasn't it?" Hissori could see her frown from the reflection in the glass as the sun was blotted out. There was something in her voice that suggested it would be hard to say. "I had my plans. I'm not so dumb an animal as to get myself caught a second time. I'd never come near a village again. However…"

He watched as she turned and crossed her arms. She leant against the glass speckled with raindrops. Something had suddenly changed in her demeanour. The true meaning of this meeting was about to be spoken, he was sure of it. "There's something wrong in this village you fear will interfere with your plans," he said with as much surety as he could manage.

She smiled at him, praising him for how quickly he'd caught on. "An X factor, as it seems. And no matter how many plans I try to think of, this body and timeframe can only lead me to failure. My plans slowly crumbled around me as I researched more and more. I almost wish I could have taken more attention of the humans in this village from my last host, or else I may have realised all this was doomed from the beginning."

So _that_ was why he had found her in the study rooms all those times. He thought over what he'd deduced, saying them out loud to keep track. "There is something in this village that may be… no, it _will_ catch you out before you are able to go ahead with your own plans. You realise you can't run away because you will be caught, if only for the fact you are existing in a body that carries my bloodline."

"And if I were brought back and questioned, I would be caught out – immediately. And the only outcome that can come of that is having myself put back in that disgusting dustbowl." Her nose crinkled at the mention of the word 'dustbowl'.

Questioned… that one thing stuck out to him. "The Kigaino clan?"

She nodded at him. "Since coming into contact with that young one of their's at the academy it has become plainly obvious to me. His face often contorts to confusion like he is searching for something but only hits a wall in the end. But he can't hear what doesn't think for itself."

"What doesn't think for itself?" repeated Hissori questioningly.

"It's a difficult situation, Hissori," she replied. "It took me four years to create this proxy from the spark that was shoved in my face. The thing that moves this body is like a puppet to my thoughts. If it had a consciousness this situation would never exist and all would be as you humans suppose a Jinchuuriki should exist, but as it is now, no good can come of it."

Hissori listened with a reserved quiet. He wasn't quite sure what this was leading towards any longer. She wanted help, but what could he do? He couldn't protect her from coming into eventual contact with the other members of the Kigaino clan. Nor could he help her run, they would send the hunters after him as well. And likely an even worse situation would arise if it involved the two of them going in for questioning. He knew how difficult it was to hide from the interrogation squad. But something else was niggling at him. "This 'proxy'…"

The girl unfolded her arms awkwardly. She avoided his gaze for a moment before speaking, knowing it would cause something. "I guess you could say it's "our" daughter."

His stomach churned. He couldn't find the words to describe the feeling that arose in his gut, but the bitter taste of the bile he held back was probably the only thing that could describe it. The girl before him looked on blankly, seemingly expectant of this sort of reaction. She took a few steps towards the bed to lean over him.

"It's just as I was before that woman forced her spirit on me, a simple creature ready to open its eyes to the world." Her eyes bore into him as he stared up at her. "I've given up trying to make things work by myself. I'm willing to be patient for another opportunity and give this body its own destiny – as long as you can help me."

"You're trying to make me feel guilty at denying something the chance at life." He glared back at the eyes that people had said so many times were like his own. The politeness the Nibi had brought into the room with her was slowly evaporating. _Kindness turned into rage… _The words from her story rang in his head.

"I may be comfortable living with skeletons, Hissori, but I am quite sure you are not," she hissed. Her hands gripped the collar of his shirt tightly. "I don't wish to threaten you, but my options are growing thin. I don't dare run to the government and give them my word in a deal for my life. They would only plunge this country into a war upon itself as they realise the Tsuchikage had betrayed them. And I know if they forced me into such a bloody war, I wouldn't be able to help myself but cause destruction. I don't want to put myself into a situation like that. I need you to take care of me, more than ever now."

Silence… The rain continued to pour outside interrupted by the rumble of thunder above. Hissori held back a chuckle, but soon burst into laughter. "The feared Nibi doesn't want to get itself caught up in a war? You've been going to war with humans since you were born, and suddenly you want peace?"

She let go of his shirt, pushing him back hard against the pillows before slapping him across the cheek. Hissori's laughter cut short. The girl before him had never looked more human. "I create my _own_ wars in my _own_ time. I told you how much I despise human wars. I will not make myself into a tool to be used while I still have a choice! A dog might be happy serving its owners, but I am _no_ dog of war."

"I don't see why I should do anything for you," he replied flatly. "You've been the one thing in my life this whole time driving me mad. You ruined everything for me."

"You ruined everything for yourself, Hissori," she retorted back bitterly. "I've been right here willing to pretend to be happy for your sake. Instead you gave into your weak delusions believing I was out to ruin you. Why would I want to do that when it would only bring ruin on me as well? I made mistakes, I know that, but I'm not human. I'm a demon and I have instincts, yet I still tried. I brought up the issue of your relationship with that woman in the hopes that perhaps if I said I knew of it you'd no longer try to be so secretive. When she thought she sent me to bed, she would cry constantly. She was lonely. You never seemed to see that, and that you were the one who caused it."

The girl held a hand to her chest again, the place where he'd stabbed her. Her anger had subsided, leaving Hissori feeling like he'd been hollowed out.

"I guess you did end something that night though…" she said quietly. "I couldn't depend on the charade any longer, or for you to stay alive. I'm sure if I hadn't come here today, I'd be all alone next time. I hate to admit, but for a human I'm rather fond of you."

The man breathed a sigh. He'd have to ask. "…What would you have me do?"

She smiled at him, that smile he'd once seen as empty now full. "It would need a catalyst to awake it. If I can get a soul from someone that has just died, I'm sure that would work. Anyone would do."

"And that is all you need?"

She nodded at him. "That is all."

Thunder echoed through the hospital. The girl thanked him, as simply as that, and left. He could hear her footsteps as she skipped down that lonely corridor. Hissori stared out the window once more to the darkly clouded sky. The hollow feeling from before wouldn't leave.

All this time… that _thing_ hadn't just been some emotionless monster. It had been trying hard to integrate, even if it was to save its own skin. And all along he'd been separating himself from life. How far he'd fallen from the pedestal his family had been placed upon by this village. He was supposed to be some sort of legend to these people, a hero. But really… had he ever been heroic? Just how would they react knowing what sort of man he'd become – cowardly, paranoid, he'd even stabbed his own daughter.

Hissori glanced down at the bandages on his arms. This pain was so much more than the injuries people could see, and he'd caused far too many of the same sorts of injuries to other people as well. Poor Bara… poor, naïve Bara… he'd put her in a cage as well, all the while looking at him with such hope it was overwhelming. Those eyes full of faith were beautiful and terrible, and for all that she had done for him he'd crushed that little heart of hers with a no-hope relationship. He had done this so many times before to those close to him. He'd broken bonds and shut people out one by one.

And it hadn't been because of Minami's death. It hadn't been because of the Nibi.

He had done this all himself – his fault, nobody else's. He had become the man in that story where once his kindness had turned into something deadly. He had become the cage Bara couldn't escape from – oh how much he wanted her to be able to fly away from this.

Because even the demon had admitted it had made mistakes. That creature was more human than he was.

He could remember that day he'd held her in his arms and made that pinky promise he'd never leave her. A deal with the devil, he'd thought. But all this time, the devil had been him.

The thunder roared overhead as lightning struck the mountains above the village. Hissori covered his face, not wanting his tears to be shown to the world he'd shunned outside.

* * *

**A/N:** I just had to include a bit of an _Alice in Wonderland_ reference somewhere along the line. More importantly though is the Nekomata's tale of its former owner. It is based off a wonderful anime called _Mononoke_ (no, not the Studio Ghibli film) which is about Japanese demons, including the Bakeneko. If you are able to, I fully recommend watching the series.


	8. Evening and Daybreak

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Ahh, thank you to Clark! I redid this chapter thanks to his suggestions, and hopefully everyone will find it interesting.

* * *

**_Chapter 8: Evening and Daybreak_**

Normal day… Same old, same old. Sora was annoyed at the buzzing in his head, and the complete absence of it to his left. Kita was talking to Yanagi, a little more animatedly than usual actually. He didn't quite understand why girls liked to talk about things like flowers and sunshine and ponies. But then, those sorts of conversations were becoming rarer really. Was it just because they were growing up, or was it because of their enrolment into ninja academy? Sora would often stop by the playgrounds where the children who went to normal school played. There was an entirely different feeling. He'd see boys his age running around pretending to be ninja and boasting about imaginary skills they had. No ninja he'd ever heard of had the ability to fly. If he ever made those sorts of claims at academy, he'd be laughed at.

It felt like he was in some strange separate world – us and them. They even talked differently. What would it be like to have been born in some normal family? Like Yanagi? He wondered why she ever gave up that life. Her mother was a beautiful woman and her father owned a bookstore. Normal people. Yanagi could have done what her mother had done and become an actress. It was certainly more glamorous than getting dirty and sweaty and never being able to grow your fingernails out without having them break off.

But perhaps that's why he had so much admiration for Yanagi too.

Kita, on the other hand, what did he admire about her? He couldn't think of anything. He couldn't even admire their so-called "friendship".

"If you ever want to go shopping with us, Kita, I'm sure my Mum wouldn't mind," said Yanagi. "We could even go right now if you want."

"Can I? I hardly ever go shopping. Can we stop by my place first though? I'll drop my books off." After a second of thought, Kita's eyes glanced across at Sora. The boy's face twitched in surprise. "Did you want to come too, Sora?"

Yanagi snorted. "I bet Sora hates shopping… Boys…" She rolled her eyes lightly.

"No, I'll come," he blurted out. He ignored Yanagi's raised eyebrow at him. Of course he hated shopping, but something felt a little off suddenly. Maybe it was just something in the way Kita had looked at him, or the thought of Yanagi being alone with her had frightened him.

Regardless, they turned down the next street toward the Mitsukai complex, and into chaos.

People were screaming, but the sound was far-off. Crowds lined the streets, attracted to whatever was going on and trying to get closer. Whispers echoed down the lines as messages were fed back. They were jumbled sentences of little sense. Sora's head buzzed loudly with the amount of people around. Countless… Still, they pushed past the crowds towards the house at the end of the road hidden by a high wall, trying to get away from the mob and to sanctuary. As they progressed, and amongst all the talking and the distant-but-nearing screams there was sobbing. The closer they got the more tears that appeared.

When the screaming began to completely surround them, it was then Sora realised the place they were heading for was the source of all that was causing this. Behind the wall he heard more noise, and someone who screamed louder than all the others.

"No… no… he…"

Sora looked behind him. Kita's eyes had gone wide. The bag she was holding dropped to the ground with a thump. She shoved past Sora, desperate to plough forward. Without thinking he reached back and pulled Yanagi along, following the space Kita left in her wake as she seemed to effortlessly push people aside. The sea of legs continued to shift around them, the noise Sora hearing in his head growing louder and louder. He couldn't help it, he had to follow, like there was something at the end of the path he had to get to. Yanagi's hand gripped tighter around his. The flash of silver hair he'd been following vanished. Soon he found himself at a wall, blocked in by the people around him. He could see sunlight further down – the gate. He saw that silver hair flash by through it.

The screaming became louder, changing into words. "KITA! DON'T LOOK AT HIM! DON'T GO IN THERE! KITA!"

Silence… For a brief moment it was as though something had rippled through the swarm.

"Dead! Hissori Mitsukai is really dead!" The silence vanished, replaced by panic when a lone voice rang loud and clear over the quiet crowd. The mass began to fight against each other, some trying to get closer, some trying to run away. People fell down, many screaming for help. Fear and uncertainty was in the air.

The tiniest gap appeared along the wall. Making sure Yanagi was behind him, Sora charged through it, the crowd threatening to close in on them again at any second. The gateway was close. A few steps, a couple, one more…

Sunlight.

The smell of blood.

A nurse rocked back and forth on the porch, her face pale. Had she been the one screaming before?

Something dragged Sora forward – bewilderment and curiosity. Yanagi's grip fought against him, then slipped as her palms grew sweaty. He didn't have to look at her to know she was trembling, or hear her voice to know she was frightened.

Anyone would be at this scene.

A kunai lie nearby swimming in the pools of red that soaked the tatami mats below. The man once known as the Guardian had joined it, slumped awkwardly alongside. His neck was one long line across. It wasn't the only line. Organs, shiny pink and unrecognisable, had been freed from their once container – now they spilled out onto the floor.

"Seppuku…" Blood splashed onto Kita's sandals, liquid squelching underfoot. She stood before the bloody corpse. Hissori's face was white, eyes rolled back into his head. "You bastard…" Kita hissed at him. "Why'd you go and do that?"

Sora couldn't do it any longer; the sight had burned into his mind. A mind that was already aching with the panic surrounding him – he turned away, stumbling back to Yanagi whilst he held his head. The noise was getting worse. He could hear Kita over the crowd though, her voice changing into screams that pierced the air.

"YOU WERE ASHAMED? OF WHAT? OF WHAT, DAMN IT? EVERYTHING COULD HAVE BEEN FINE! BUT YOU CHOSE THIS? YOU KNEW… YOU KNEW I'D HAVE TO NOW… THERE'S NOTHING NOBLE ABOUT THIS!"

Yanagi shook in his hold, her face buried against his chest as she cried. Tears stained his shirt. It felt like there was a weight on his head – growing heavier with each moment. He teetered on weakening feet.

_'This can't be happening… I'm scared. I'm scared!'_

Who was that? …Yanagi-chan? He clenched his eyes shut, hearing the hundreds of voices flood into his mind. The world had doubled in volume. It was unbearable now. Kita continued to scream in frustration. More voices joined the fray, barely recognisable with their tones trying to find order in the chaos. The ANBU had arrived. Sora's head pounded in pain. The pressure was too much, it was too much to take!

"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" A hand landed on his shoulder.

The world stopped spinning in that moment. Sora's eyes widened as he felt the pressure release, flying away from him. Kita's screams cut short. She collapsed, body hitting the blood-drenched floor. He fell as well, Yanagi crying out for him. A pair of sturdy hands grabbed him by the shoulders, calloused and rough from hard work. He held onto the hands with his consciousness, trying not to succumb to the darkness clouding him over. It was hard though. His vision blurred, but he could see the room still. Something stood inside, a shape of some kind, some bizarre thing he couldn't make out even as his vision now wavered back and forth.

He couldn't concentrate on it for long though. The shock of it all finally overcame him as he threw up onto the ground. The voices in his head were back again and growing. He wasn't sure if he'd make it this time or if his head would split in two. The hands that continued to hold him clutched him tighter. Yanagi was crying somewhere far off. Was she alright? She had to be, she had to!

"You're one of the Kigaino, right?" asked a voice in his ear, cool and soothing amongst the chaos. Sora grunted out a yes, the best he could manage to do. "Hang in there then, kiddo, I'll get you to your mother. She'll sort everything out."

"Wha… bout… Ya-Yanagi…?" Sora clenched his eyes shut again, the too-bright colours of people and scenery too much to take in for him.

"She'll be alright," replied the voice. "Someone will take her home to her parents."

Relief washed over him. Everything would be alright, wouldn't it? It had to be…

In the distance he heard that screaming from before. The nurse had come to her senses. But the noise soon faded as he felt himself being carried away from the scene.

* * *

The sunlight was too bright and too strange. How come? She was sure she knew what sunlight was, but it was like she'd never seen it before. The conflicting thoughts confused her.

She glanced down at her hands, subdued rays of light played on her skin. A curtain was drawn across the window, blocking the view of the outside. With shaky feet she stumbled towards the window and grabbed onto the ledge for support. It felt like she'd never walked before. Her hands reached for the tiny gap in the curtains and pulled them aside. The sunlight was brighter than ever and it burned. She cowered in its presence and shielded her eyes. Her hands no longer gripping the ledge, she fell backwards onto the ground where she curled up and continued to cover her eyes.

What was this strange place with its burning light? Everything felt old and new at the same time.

After a few minutes blinking her eyes adjusted. She crawled towards the window again, her legs still shaking as she pulled herself up. The sun greeted her again with its bright rays, displaying the outside world and the village hidden atop the mountain. Something in the back of her mind seemed to whisper 'welcome'.

"Welcome," she repeated slowly, the word clumsy on her tongue. "Welcome to the world… Kita."

Kita – that was her name, correct? She took her time to stare at the village below her window. It splayed out in all directions, she couldn't follow a particular path, let alone keep her eyes from darting all over the place to see people hurrying to and fro. A bird flew past the window and her eyes followed for a moment.

The outside world soon became boring and she turned back to explore the rest of the room. It was a white room, clean floor, one bed and a low bench that held a multitude of items. She used the window ledge to edge her way over before crawling to sit before it. The flowers tickled her nose with their sweet aromas. She poked one particular bouquet.

"Lilies," she murmured. Familiar somehow, were they important? How could they be? What use did flowers have exactly besides looking pretty?

Didn't she know someone whose name was like a flower?

The door opened with a click.

Kita spun around on the floor to face the door, eyes wide when she saw the woman enter. Bara's eyes were bloodshot. She paused at the door, shoulders heaving as she panted heavily. She must have run for some time. She stared down at the girl intensely. Kita's hands clamped onto the nearby bed-sheets instinctually. Why did Bara look at her like that? The woman walked towards the bed until she was standing over Kita. Slowly, she lent down until she collapsed onto her knees and started to sob. Her arms wrapped tightly around Kita. The girl continued to grip the sheets.

"Please… give me a reason…" wept the woman as she rocked back and forth with the girl in her arms. "Tell me, please, tell me! Tell me you hate me! Tell me it's all my fault!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied Kita. Her shoulder twitched as the woman's warm tears dripped onto it. "Bara-san, what are you talking about?"

The woman slowly changed her grip to the girl's arms. Kita could see the wide-eyed look on her face, disbelieving. She gritted her teeth as Bara's tattered nails bit into her skin. "You're joking, right? Say it… Say you're joking. I can't live knowing that this is my fault! Just tell me what I deserve!"

Kita stayed silent for a while, avoiding her stare as best she could. Bara was clamped solidly onto her, crying hysterically. What were you supposed to do in these sorts of situations again? She just didn't know. She had no idea what the woman was talking about.

They stayed like that for some time. Bara continued to weep, pleading with her to say she hated her. Kita felt too weak to push the woman away though.

"Maybe… maybe if I hadn't tried to be Minami everything would be fine," she whispered hoarsely, "but it's not, it's not fine at all. I just can't seem to escape wanting to get trapped in these horrible things. And then I end up causing things to become worse. I pushed too hard to try and replace Minami. Nothing could ever replace her, but I tried because it seemed to make him happy. I know… I know it must have driven him mad to see what he no longer had. It's my fault… _all my fault_." The warm tears dripped down quicker.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," muttered Kita. "You haven't done anything to make me hate you. You said I could call you Mother, I could never hate my mother." Kita freed the sheets from her grip and wrapped her arms around Bara. This was the sort of thing you were supposed to do, right? This would make everything better?

Bara released her. She was shaking. Her stare bore into the girl's own confused look. But the pain in the woman's eyes didn't leave. They seemed to grow even more pained. She screamed and lunged at her. Kita's head hit the floor. Hands wrapped around the girl's throat.

"How dare you! How _dare _you! You bitch! He killed himself because of me! _Because of me_!"

She couldn't breathe. Kita could only stare at the window, the sun blazing white but growing dim as her lungs burned for air. The darkness surrounded her. She felt like she'd only just woken up, now she was being sent back into that sunless place? She didn't want that. Not again. Not again…

When the light finally returned to her vision, the room was empty. Somehow though, she'd moved from where she remembered being, now in middle of the room on stomach. Kita rolled onto her back, still trying to regain her breath. She was aching all over. The light poured down from the window, the sky was on the edge of her vision. Kita's gaze flickered towards it. She blinked rapidly as the sun reminded her of its brilliance. A butterfly flitted past. Kita grunted as she tried to sit up, but her strength had left her. The jelly legs were still as shaky as ever. She lowered herself back onto the floor, glancing up again at the big blue sky.

Something large whooshed past the window. Down, down it went.

It screamed on the way down. It was a familiar voice.

_Thump._

Kita's eyes widened. Her gaze didn't leave the window, they couldn't seem to move any other way. In that moment it was as if a hole had opened up and swallowed something she should have known. But there was still resentment, and disappointment? Betrayal? That woman… who was she? She had met her, she knew that… But she couldn't remember anything else; the memories that should have been there had vanished into that deep darkness she felt within herself.

The door opened with a bang. Someone ran in, footsteps barely audible from the chaos of noise that floated in from the window.

"Someone help! She's gone into shock!"

* * *

**A/N:** Until next time~!


	9. Duty

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **For those of you who read the original story, you'll probably be able to tell I gave Rosuto a name change and a bit more of a personality. His lack of personality in the original bugged me so much…

* * *

**_Chapter 9: Duty_**

"I'm looking for Kita? She wasn't in her room, the nurse said I should ask here."

"Oh, the Mitsukai girl? Out in the courtyard – just remember if she passes out call for one of the staff."

"Okay…"

He came upon the girl sitting under one of the trees, propped up by a pillow and a book in her hands. She was engrossed in it, not noticing as he sat down beside her. She jumped slightly when she finally did. He gave a reassuring smile. Although the bruises on the girl's neck made him flinch for the briefest of seconds.

"Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?" he asked trying to use his most calming voice.

Kita closed the book carefully. "It's boring here, Kazuo-san. Nobody will let me leave."

He gave her a crooked smile. How blissfully unaware she was…

Kazuo Shizukesa wasn't a man who liked to be suspicious of those around him. He had to wonder, however, just what this girl's part was in this tragic affair. And what his own part was in this as well. He felt guilt – of course he had to. He'd lost his best friend from right under his nose it seemed. But it had been a downhill situation since he lost his other best friend all those years ago. He'd been a pillar of strength for Hissori then, but as the years went on they simply seemed to drift apart. He hadn't realised it all that time, having put it to their dependence on Minami to keep them together. Worse yet was that Hissori had been suffering on a level nobody seemed to comprehend – he was too good at hiding the depth of it in normal company. Bara on the other hand, for whatever reason, had simply chosen to cover it up. Perhaps out of the stubbornness of love and believing she was the only one who could help? There had been whispers amongst the hospital staff for quite some time that Bara had been seeing some secret someone. It seemed now that "secret someone" had been Hissori all along.

"Kazuo-san, do you know when they'll let me leave?" asked Kita. She sighed as he shook his head. "Always the same answer from everyone."

Kita had only been able to give one answer about Bara's suicide despite seeming to have lost all other knowledge of the woman's existence. She could only remember some shadowy figure telling her she wanted 'to escape'. But escape? Escape from what? Kazuo wasn't exactly the type to understand romance so easily, if this was romance at all. This had been another tragic death on top of his best friend's. He didn't know what to think – was it Hissori's fault she went that far, or Bara herself for following him?

But it _had_ been tragic. There was nothing Romeo and Juliet about the death of these two. No star-crossed lovers, just talk of weakness and insanity. And the shame that came with the ways they decided to end their lives… Romantic? No, it never would be.

"Your father's funeral is in an hour. Did you want to go?"

"I just want to go home," she said. It was more of a demand than any kind of sighing wish.

"It's not as simple as that," he replied. "You've got nobody to stay with. I can't look after you, I've got enough ANBU assignments as it is."

She glanced up at him. "I'm going to stay at home – like I've always done."

Kazuo shook his head again. "It's just not possible."

"Why not? I've always been there by myself, I can look after myself fine."

"Kita-chan, you haven't been by yourself. You had your father, and Bara."

She slammed the book on ground, glaring at him. "People keep telling me about them, but I can't remember a single thing! If they were always there for me, why can't I remember them, and why aren't they here now? I've always had to look after myself, and I want to get out of here and back to school already. I've been studying really hard, I'm not going to give up because of some stupid thing the doctors say I have! I want to make my _own_ decisions, in my _own _time."

Kazuo sighed to himself. Stubborn brat… He didn't remember her being this cold to him when she was younger. But he wasn't the type to hide the facts of life from even children. "Look, Kita-chan, don't you realise what kind of worry you're causing all the staff here? One second you're walking around fine, and the next they find you on the floor passed out like you're dead. How are you supposed to be a shinobi if you suddenly have something like that happen to you on the battlefield? I'll tell you, even if you're a child they'd still take the chance to make you dead for real."

Kita was quiet for a while. "I know if I keep working on it, I know I can stop having the dream."

"What dream?" he asked with a frown.

"The one where I wake up and I'm alive."

He stared at her. What kind of a description of a dream was that? But she didn't seem to quite understand what she was saying herself. He hardly knew anything either – he'd already endured a whole list of things the doctors suspected of her condition – from catatonia to narcolepsy. This only made things more confusing.

She pointed to her head. "There's something up here that can help. I can find it, I'm sure. But I still want to continue going to school, or I could do home study like Hisae or Tansei. Tsuchikage-sama sometimes teaches them, right?"

"Probably," Kazuo replied awkwardly. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it off. He grumbled to himself, this wasn't going too well. "You might be able to do some sort of home study. There's a couple of families that have systems like that set-up so it's possible to organise. Your father's possessions will be passed onto you, I imagine, which includes the contents of his library."

He got to his feet, it definitely seemed like Kita wasn't going to go with him. It was probably for the best. All the damage had been done now – only to leave that one little girl behind, the one at the centre of these dark events. He'd been worried before Bara's suicide, but now with what she did… Well, he didn't know what to think. He supposed it wouldn't have been so strange for Kita to suppress the events she'd witnessed, but to completely _forget_? And not just Bara, but her own father as well? Just what was going on that he didn't know about? He'd been told long ago that the girl suffered from some sort of illness, yet there seemed something strange about that too. He couldn't seem to work it out.

"Do you want me to stop by again tomorrow?" he asked.

"Bring me a new book," she muttered as she went back to reading.

* * *

Kazuo did his duty at the memorial area. He sat next to the Tsuchikage whilst the man delivered a eulogy about bravery and pride, and how he regarded Hissori as a son. He'd been to a lot of funerals in his years, this speech was just another in a long line. But amongst the words there was something in Benkei's voice that seemed restrained. Kazuo unfocussed from the words and looked over the crowd before him. Many stared at the small frame sitting on a table, black ribbon on the edges. Hissori stared out from the glass blankly. Half the village had turned out for this, it was as though it was just like that time before when the war was on. That time, he'd sat beside Hissori as the boy kept himself on the verge of bursting out in tears. The pictures on the table had been many more that time.

Now it was just one, but the feeling hanging over the crowd was just the same. Despite the circumstances, it was like they'd lost a hero.

"Whilst others may have mocked the Mitsukai clan, called them our dogs of war or failures as ninja for their abilities… but truthfully we know that they crawled out from the shadow of oppression in order to grasp the light and bring it to those in need. What we call them are our Guardians, and they gave us hope and protection. While Hissori may be gone, his spirit will continue to live on in his daughter. But it is time we took up the mantle of putting hope in ourselves as well. We will continue on with our lives and our dreams, but never forget Hissori or the light his family brought us."

Somewhere far off, birds chirped. The solemn crowd slowly disbursed back to their lives, Kazuo felt a hand on his shoulder. Benkei gave a twitch of a smile at him.

"We have one last duty," he said quietly.

He'd performed this duty once before too. The last time one of their team left them – Kazuo stared into the rectangular hole with the coffin resting within. It was empty, really – just ashes which had once been remains, precautions against the discovery of clan secrets. Kazuo gripped the shovel in his hand tightly. Benkei had started shovelling already.

"If there's one thing you don't do on the dead, it's jutsu," said Benkei. Another one of his strange sayings... There was also something in his tone that suggested he was thinking about something else.

It wasn't until they had finished the deed that Kazuo could finally see the despair written upon Benkei's face. The man suddenly seemed so fragile, more unlike him than Kazuo had ever seen.

"I thought I was being helpful, giving him those missions. That they'd help take his minds off things – but I didn't see how much pain I was putting him in." His grasp around the shovel handle trembled. "I didn't know Bara would go so far to cover up what Hissori was going through either. I should have paid more attention. Maybe if I had I would have known to place Bara on suicide watch too."

Kazuo dropped his shovel to help support the man. "Neither of us were there, Benkei-sama, but how could we have known? It wasn't just Bara protecting him, Hissori was doing too good of a job of keeping his problems a secret too." He glanced at the headstone with Hissori's name. Just what could he say to make things better? Not when he felt this way. "Benkei-sama… I feel betrayed."

"I understand," replied the older man softly. "I understand…"

They both glanced across to the grave next to Hissori's. There was a wilted bouquet of lilies on the ground. Hissori had probably placed them there before he'd gone back home for the last time.

"What will happen to Kita-chan?"

Benkei's brows furrowed, not a scowl of any sort, just pure concern. "They left behind the last person in the world that needed this happen to them," he muttered quietly. "A decision will have to be reached soon. I'll look over it personally."

Kazuo nodded, watching as the older man made his way down the hill. He thought he'd seen sadness enough when Minami had died – in a way, it must have been double the blow to Benkei with Hissori taking his own life as well. Kazuo couldn't stand the thought if Minami had been the one to have to live through this. He turned to Hissori's grave once more, taking all his will not to kick the headstone or spit on it. "I can't forgive you, you know. I can't forgive myself either." A lump formed in his throat. There was still so much pain and guilt and anger inside him even after talking to Benkei. "When it was just the three of us, I always felt the one left out. I was still jealous that you had won Minami over me. I bet you never told her about our contest to see which one of us would win her heart first. That was too cruel… But you fell for her as well and I was glad to see you two so happy together. I hated you when she died though, like it was your fault she left us. It's why I couldn't talk to you anymore. It was stupid… stupid and selfish of me to do that. I don't know what to say – I don't know if I could have helped you, but why do I feel as though this is my fault? You bastard… why'd you have to leave me to be the only one left again?"

He picked up the shovel he'd let fall onto the ground before.

"If there's someway I can look after your daughter, I'll do it. But I'm not doing it for you – I'm doing it for Minami."

* * *

Things had definitely changed since _that_ day, Sora had decided. If he concentrated hard enough now, he could see the white strings that connected everyone to him. The buzzing in his head had become quiet whispers as he'd learnt to block out the majority of the noise. During that moment of pain and chaos, something had flicked the switch in his mind.

"Concentrate, dummy." His sister poked him in the chest as they sat on the living room floor together training. Sora had never been more grateful for the location of their house now – even if it was a bit far to school, being in a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of town certainly made things easier on his mind.

"Ow, Yoimi, that hurt," he replied sorely. His sister pouted in return, obviously showing where he'd picked up that certain expression. He pouted as well. "This is boring."

"If you want to go out roughhousing with your friends you know you'll have hell to pay when you get back," she said sternly. Sora weighed his options and sighed. She was right – their mother would obviously know if he did. Being grounded with her didn't just mean having to stay in your room for a while either – it meant you'd have to spend at least an hour trapped inside your head as well as you tried to solve some mind-maze. Yoimi poked him again.

"I can't do it," Sora muttered. "It's too hard. Can't we just do genjutsu training instead? I like that."

"Yeah, so you can prank unsuspecting people into thinking they're getting chased by hoards of rabid bunny rabbits. Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Otoutou-chan. I'm three years older than you and I've already been through all the hell you're about to face."

"No way, Mum treats me way harsher than she has ever done to you," Sora retorted. It certainly _felt_ that way at least.

Yoimi sighed and stretched restlessly. "If you want to be a cry-baby about it, go ahead. But I'm not doing any genjutsu training with you today. Anyway, you know I'm hopeless at it. I always get details wrong and it's way too obvious. The only thing I can help you with is the talking stuff."

Sora fell onto his back. "If I learn some of this talky-stuff, will it help me annoy Yanagi-chan more?"

His sister raised an eyebrow at him. "You keep annoying that girl and you'll just end up getting a slap in the face." She ignored the wide grin that spread over Sora's face. "Don't you have anything better to do with your bloodline now that you have it? Mum's told you about tactics, right?"

He rolled his eyes, the grin vanishing off his face. Most mentions of their mother usually had that effect on either of them. "A little, but now that I have it all she likes to do is rant on to me about stupid stuff. She keeps saying she wishes there was another Shinobi War so she could storm into Konoha and pay back whoever stole our interrogation techniques."

_'If you learnt how to do more of this sort of thing, she'd be off your back about it,'_ grumbled Yoimi in his head. She frowned at him. "Try harder, you _want_ to do this."

_'I'm… try… best…'_ came the shaky reply. Sora's eyes widened as he felt the flash of Yoimi's thoughts through the connection. He fell backwards again, avoiding the bony finger point aimed at his chest. "Stop doing that!" he demanded.

She crossed her arms. "Well, at least I'm glad you're practising reading surface thoughts. But I can't let you go until you can get one complete sentence into my head. Or else it'll be me being stuck in the maze this time. Now _concentrate_, really reach out."

Sora squeezed his eyes shut. The sooner he was done with this, the better. He imagined something of an invisible hand reaching out to firmly grasp the string coming from Yoimi's forehead. _'Can I… go now? This… really sucks.'_

_'Yes, yes you may.'_

He was gone before she could say another word. Sora enjoyed the warm sun on his back as he ran down towards the centre of town; it was nothing short of a grand summer day (granted it was almost nearing autumn). The events of that springtime all those months ago seemed to have never happened. He slowed suddenly, a pang of guilt overcoming him. He didn't even know what had happened to Kita. For many weeks after his bloodline sprung to life he wondered if it was because of her. Gulping, he changed direction towards the house he'd been avoiding for so many months.

It was unnerving as he neared the house. He didn't even know if Kita lived there now. But the thing that unnerved him the most was that _thing_ he'd seen that day. What had it been? It was like some see-through silhouette, unknowing if it was facing towards the house or maybe even towards him.

"What are you doing around here, Sora?"

The boy blinked, his thoughts disrupted. Tansei had almost run into him from a side alley. He shifted the backpack on his shoulder as he raised an eyebrow at him.

"I… just thought I'd walk past Kita's house…" he said in a weak voice. He didn't realise how much thinking about that thing affected him. "What are you doing then?"

Tansei smiled brightly. Sora felt his jaw go slack. Wait, _Tansei_ was smiling? What the hell was going on? The green haired boy turned towards the proper direction. "I've been helping Kita with training," he said. The smile had been a brief one, leaving Sora wondering if it had even existed in the first place. "I heard she wasn't allowed back to school because of her illness, so I went to visit her. She said nobody was willing to train her since they think it's a lost cause…"

"You said you'd train her then?" asked Sora. He frowned – now this was nothing like Tansei. As long as he'd known the other boy he'd always placed his own training ahead of everyone else's. The house loomed towards them now, making Sora's breath hitch in his throat for a moment. He froze as Tansei opened the front gate.

"You coming?" he asked.

Sora shook his head. "I… better not. I've got training to get back to or else my mother will kill me."

"Suit yourself," Tansei replied and closed the gate behind him. "I'll see ya around then."

Sora stepped a few feet over, hiding himself behind the tall wall that surrounded the property. His nails dug into the wall, palms getting scratched by the rough texture. He was just too anxious to go over that line and see what lie behind. He didn't know when he would feel the courage to approach the house again.

* * *

**A/N:** Finally we have some new names!

**Names:**

**~Shizukesa** – stillness / silence / hush / calm / serenity

***Kazuo – **peace ('O' is a popular letter to add onto a boy's names)

**~Kigaino **– Strong spirit (no = of)

***Yoimi – **evening/night; given to girls born at night ('Mi' is also a popular add-on for a girl's name)


	10. Visiting

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Chapter ten already? Wow! Thanks everyone for supporting and reading. I just hope you've had as much fun following this than I've had writing it!

* * *

**_Chapter 10: Visiting_**

Tansei opened the front door of the house and let himself in. The first room to his right was the living room. He glanced inside, looking to see if Kita was there. She wasn't. His gaze travelled around the room. He hadn't been here to see the exact event, but the telltale sign of what had happened was still here – the tatami mats had been stripped up from the floor to reveal the bare wooden boards beneath. There were dark patches, as if someone had spilled something on them but been unable to get it out no matter how hard they scrubbed. Tansei turned away from it and looked into the other rooms. The kitchen opposite was empty, so were a number of the rooms that he wasn't sure served which purpose now. The last room at the end of the hall was Kita's bedroom, but it too was void of the girl.

He heard shuffling sounds above his head. Quickly finding the stairs, he followed them up. He'd never been to the upper floors before. He wasn't quite sure what these rooms were either, although they seemed to hold a lot of dust and more than a few strange objects. He peeked inside one room. It was a bedroom again, obviously a girl's. There was a white dresser with a collection of photo frames on the top. He edged inside closer to take a look at them. He didn't recognise the people in the photos, although a few did seem a little familiar to him. A lot of them had the same silver-ish hair. He picked up the largest photo. Three kids and a woman dressed in jounin gear. One of the kids was a girl with silver hair. She almost looked like…

The shuffling sounds caught his attention again. He set the photo down and went back to the hallway, following the noise. It was coming from the next floor up. He ascended the stairs once more, finding himself in a large space – the attic. The room was covered with bookshelves and odd trunks. There were footprints in the dust. Finally he noticed Kita at the other end of the attic reading over a scroll. "What are you doing?" he asked.

She looked up as he approached. "Reading," she replied hastily, going back to pouring over the scroll.

"Are you looking for things to do with your illness?" He sat down beside her and glanced at the scroll. It seemed to be rather old, full of stuff he wasn't sure he understood.

Kita nodded. She seemed frustrated from the scroll though, probably the same as him.

He sat uncomfortably in the silence. "Hey, what happened to the people that were looking after you?"

"They only visit weekends now, I can look after myself," she replied without elaborating. "I'm fine. I just fall asleep for a little while and then I wake up. I'm fine, okay?"

He should have felt concerned, after hearing her repeat 'I'm fine' so many times, including on his last visit. But he'd been fine by himself when he was out in the forests training. And Kita seemed to have the same sort of burning determination as him. They sat in silence again until he felt the need to ask another question. "Why are you looking up ninja scrolls if it's something medical?"

She continued to read the scroll for a few seconds before rolling it back up and moving onto the next one. "It's not medical," she said.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

He shrugged. If that was the answer she wanted to give, he was happy with it. Wether she found something or not would be determined by time and the willpower to succeed. Kita rolled up the scroll she had been reading and placed it on the small pile she'd built up. She rose to her feet and picked up the pile into her arms awkwardly. Her bare feet kicked up tiny clouds of dust as she went over to a trunk on the other side of the room. Kneeling, she placed the scrolls back in and closed the lid. She paused for some time – a long time. Tansei approached her. The girl's face was blank, her body seemingly frozen.

What was that thing they did to check if people were alright? Tansei placed his fingers against the girl's neck. He didn't feel anything for a while except her cold skin. But then, _thump_. It was extremely slow, but he could feel the blood moving.

Kita jolted suddenly, falling onto her backside. Tansei snatched his hand back whilst she held her own hand to her head.

"You just froze up," he said, "like a stone." It had been a little unsettling…

"Sorry," she muttered, avoiding his gaze. "Just ignore it. If it happens, just be patient. It doesn't last long."

He didn't feel comfortable about it, but he nodded anyway. If he ended up arguing with her it might not have gone well. There was something about this girl he just… liked. Maybe it was something in the way she seemed so mature. He almost felt jealous of her. She sighed, catching his attention. The frustration on her face eased as she stood back up and patted the dust off herself. Tansei felt the weight of his backpack suddenly, reminding him of what he'd come here to do. "I brought a few target boards to use for shuriken practise," he told her.

"Alright," she replied, "let's go."

* * *

Kita stared into the fridge later that night. The sound of the television running in the background broke up the silence of the house. The news was on, blaring about wars in other countries and countless other tragedies. She crinkled her nose at it – wars, so pointless. Just why did people have this bizarre compulsion to start wars against one another anyway? She remembered the scroll she'd found containing information about some ancient war against something called a 'bijuu'. It made a lot more sense when people were fighting for some other reason against monsters. Fighting among your own kind… it was just sad. If she ever got the chance, she'd try to change things.

The white light of the fridge spilled out on the kitchen floor. Kita could feel the cold air fall onto her feet. She wasn't hungry – she never was – but something was telling her to just eat something, anything. She frowned and shut the door, turning towards the fruit bowl and grabbing an apple.

She stumbled as she gasped for air, grabbing the edge of the table for support. She banged a fist on the wood, frustrated – she had blacked out again. And along with it was that tune again, that terrible and sorrowful melody that echoed in her mind whenever she woke up. Trying her best to ignore it, she picked the fallen apple up and rubbed it with her shirt. She went back to the living room and turned the television off, reclining on the couch and staring down at the floor. Her eyes centred on the dark stains here and there. She'd been the one who'd stripped the mats off the floor. Someone had tried to clean them before, but in the end they'd only made things worse. It was better to just have them gone. One day she'd get around to replacing the mats perhaps, but for some reason she wanted to be able to see the floorboards – they were proof. Those floorboards represented so much, yet she couldn't remember a thing at all.

Still, there was a feeling. She couldn't describe it exactly – a shadow? There was nothing particularly dark or frightening about it, it was just a feeling of sadness. Half-consciously she began to hum the sorrowful melody that haunted her, her mind wandering to other things. All day she had been rummaging through those old scrolls and trunks but finding nothing. Maybe Tansei was right and it _was_ medical, she was no doctor so she couldn't go into any of those big fancy terms or just what was wrong with her. But there was some little voice in the back of her head – the same one that reminded her to do certain things – and it was telling her now that there was an answer somewhere within her reach.

She thought over the times she had blacked out that day: when she was going to get breakfast; when she was climbing the stairs and had luckily only tripped over the top step and not gone down the other way; putting those scrolls away; and a few more times while she was out training with Tansei; plus the one she had just had. Was it some sort of tiredness? She didn't _feel_ tired, just frustrated when she woke back up.

No, wait. It wasn't frustration she first felt when she jolted awake. It was more like she'd been miles away somewhere off, like drifting. The melody she had been humming cut short abruptly, a determined frown overcoming her face. She'd figure this out. Somehow… The floorboards caught her attention again. There really _were_ no memories. Nothing.

She threw her half-finished apple in the garbage as she exited the house. The lights of the village centre were illuminated further off, bouncing reflectively off the Stone Tower where the Tsuchikage worked. The large clock face set in the tower glinted – 9.24pm. The hour hand pointed in the direction she was going. Despite not really knowing the way in her mind, her body made the correct turns until she found herself walking up a long stairway to the top of a grassy hill. The far-off glow lit her way to the quiet area under a tree that rustled in the breeze. Gravestones faced the village in a line as though watching over it, Kita glanced down at the names and the years. A lot of these people had gone far before their time. There was that feeling again, sad shadows under the ground. But the real things had left long ago, leaving naught but residue.

_Hissori Mitsukai_…

She crouched before that particular gravestone, recognising the name from people telling her.

"So you were my father?" she asked. The grass had begun to recover from where it had been dug out before. She didn't really like this grave – it was too familiar and too unknown at the same time. She couldn't stand to look at it. Instead her gaze drifted to the grave beside it.

_Minami Mitsukai – My Only Angel_…

Something drove her to touch the headstone. Her fingers brushed against the smooth granite. She wasn't quite sure who that gravestone belonged to either. She paused. There was something about this place that didn't want her around any longer, as if she weren't welcome.

"I'll come here if I want," she hissed, wanting to dismiss the ominous presences. "Stay in your graves and be silent."

She didn't know why she said that, but regardless, it made her feel better. Taking in the view of the village for a few moments, she set back off home.

* * *

"It's not fair. It's a new week and Tansei-kun isn't here _again_," moaned Yanagi. She shot a glance at Sora, the boy knowing she wanted some sort of answer.

But the truth was, he didn't want to say what he knew – that Tansei had been going to Kita's house more often. It had been some time since he'd first run into him. It annoyed him, since Tansei was always getting the best grades despite not being around. He'd show up to do a test, pass with flying colours, and they wouldn't see him again for a while. Just how was he staying ahead?

"Soraaaa…" grumbled Yanagi more persistently.

"I dunno," he muttered. He wasn't in a good mood.

Yanagi rolled her eyes at him. Sora caught the word 'idiot' surface loudly in the girl's mind. He probably deserved that. He half-listened as she talked to Hisae. If there had been at least one somewhat good thing to happen, it was that with Tansei's absence came Hisae's reappearance. It really did seem as though Tansei had some sort of profoundly frightening effect on his cousin and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what that was.

"Sora-kun?" Hisae glanced around Yanagi towards him. The boy leaned forward – Hisae's voice was always so quiet. "Did you want to come with us on a picnic this weekend?"

"Where are you going?" he asked in reply.

"There's a secret place behind the mountains…" she whispered. Sora raised his eyebrows curiously, this was a definite change from the park they usually went to. Although, he couldn't help but notice the tone she said it in. 'Secret' as in she didn't want anyone to find out about it, or maybe it was 'secret' in a way that was special to her? He decided to stay out of asking any questions there though. Hisae wasn't like Yanagi when it came to his annoyances.

He nodded at her. "Sure, sounds fun."

Yanagi tapped the desk thoughtfully. "Should we ask Tansei-kun if he wants to come too?" She failed to see the colour drain from Hisae's face.

Sora jumped in to save her. "Nah, he's probably busy out on one of his training trips. We probably won't see him for days." She grimaced at him, but sighed in acknowledgement that he was likely correct. Sora mentally sighed in response, wondering if Yanagi would ever catch on and see the same sorts of things he would.

"What about Kita?" she asked suddenly. There was something of an awkward pause. Sora hadn't really heard Yanagi talk much about Kita since that incident. Who'd want to remember something like that anyway? Yanagi fidgeted. "It's just… I feel bad we haven't gone to see her. It's been at least half a year…"

"We could go around this afternoon and see her," suggested Hisae. She seemed rather enthusiastic about the idea as well.

Sora felt uncertainty arise in his gut. What if Hisae ran into Tansei there? Or Yanagi saw Tansei training Kita? He liked Yanagi, and even wished she'd notice him more, but the last thing he wanted her to find out was something that would make her sad. He cared too much for that to happen to her. And then there was the idea of them going into that house. His skin crawled. "Uh, I know…" he interrupted. "I'll go over this afternoon and ask her and you guys can organise some kind of surprise for her?" He grinned half-heartedly at them hoping they'd take the bait.

"Ooh, a surprise. How about a present?" Yanagi took the bait and ran with it. Sora felt relief wash over him.

At least, for a moment, until he realised he'd made a mistake. A stupid, stupid mistake – even if he made it up that she'd said no, they'd end up going over there to bring her the present. He didn't want to go near that house, or them to either, no way. But… he'd have to now. And hopefully Kita would come along with them.

His arms and legs felt jerky as he walked up to the front door that following afternoon. He had stood at the front gate for ten minutes trying to psyche himself into it – but in the end he just closed his eyes and plunged right in. The knock at the door echoed through the inside of the house. Sora fidgeted, hoping that maybe she wasn't even there…

The door opened. Bright purple eyes glanced at him. The door opened up wider until he stood face to face with her.

_'Sora…? I never thought _he'd_ visit…'_

He stuttered out a hello as that thought hit him. After so many years of silence from that girl's mind… the last thing he was expecting was this.

* * *

**A/N:** No notes this time, booo.


	11. How to Reconnect

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Thank you everyone for waiting patiently! Remember, if there's any questions or that, feel free to ask.

* * *

**_Chapter 11: How to Reconnect_**

"Why don't you come in?" suggested Kita. Somehow, Sora found himself in the living room sitting at the table. Kita turned the TV off, joining him on the opposite side. She gazed at him for a while patiently waiting for him to say something.

"I, uh, I…" He scratched his chin, quite unsure what to say after having to deal with that little revolution. "It's been a while?" He shrugged, knowing he probably looked like some sort of idiot now.

She nodded. "Mostly Tansei only visits me. He comes a lot more often than anyone else so I hang out here with him or go training. Kazuo-san visits, but not very often. I'm fine though. I get groceries delivered by the nurses that drop by on the weekend. I don't think they like being in this house though, they never stay long." Her eyes flickered towards the floor.

Sora followed her gaze and suddenly felt like he was awake. Here it was – the full force of that terrible thing that had made him avoid the house for so long. He stared at the dark stains on the floorboards, memories flickering back to that day and the things he had seen. But it wasn't the memories bothering him, there was something else… a vibe?

"The nurses avoid this room, and so do Kazuo-san and Tansei," said Kita quietly. "But even though I can't remember what happened here, I can feel some sort of…"

"Vibe?" Sora finished the sentence for her. He forced himself to look away from it and into Kita's eyes. She was frowning down at the table.

"I was going to say 'some sort of shadow' myself."

'Shadow' – that was a better word for it – a shadow that seemed to weigh you down. But he felt a little better knowing that Kita felt it too. The silence became long and awkward again, and even felt worse with that 'shadow' lingering below them. Sora gulped. "You can't remember what happened?" he asked, trying to find some sort of new conversation to break the silence.

"Kazuo-san always talks about Hissori, but he still feels like a stranger to me. He doesn't mention Bara much although I'm supposed to remember her too." Her eyes stayed focused on the table, following the grain in the wood up and down in study. _'Tansei never wants to talk about these sorts of things… but I feel maybe Sora understands a little better. I bet I sound like a loony though.'_

Sora couldn't help but feel something inside him smile at that thought he heard. The apprehension he had held in his heart for all that time was slowly slipping away. Change _had_ happened that day back then, and not just to him. "I, well, I actually came here not to visit exactly." She blinked and looked up at him curiously. "Yanagi-chan and Hisae-chan are organising a picnic this weekend and they wanted me to ask you if you'd like to go along?"

She was quiet for a while. Sora wasn't sure how to take her expression. She seemed more confused at what to do than anything. Being alone in this house, had her confidence dwindled somehow?

"Say you'll come," he told her. She stared at him.

Finally a small smile crept over her lips, a smile of relief. "I guess I should."

"Great, I'll tell them you're coming then." He nodded in confirmation before scratching the back of his head. "Uh, also, I know you're probably still not well yet, but don't worry because we'll look after you." It felt a little strange saying that to the girl before him. He knew she had been training with Tansei, but there was some feeling there – that she still seemed fragile inside.

"Oh… thanks. Really, I'm fine… but thanks." Kita's smile faulted for a moment before resettling again. "I'll go get us something to drink."

Sora winced as she walked out of the room. He felt like he'd screwed that up even though it was in the best intentions. Knowing it was probably wrong, he followed the string to her thoughts. They were jumbled though, too hard to pick up a single word amongst the flow.

A noise from the kitchen disrupted him and made him jump. Kita's thoughts went silent. Curiosity beckoned as he found himself walking into the kitchen and finding Kita flat on the floor. Her hair draped over her still form. He crouched down next to Kita's frozen form. Silence. Nothing… He placed his fingers on her neck like the teachers had told him to. There was a heartbeat, slow, but it was there. He frowned and concentrated, curiosity getting the better of him. The white strings he saw when he concentrated hard enough appeared. One lead straight to Kita, but… His eyes followed the second string that led away from her. His eyes widened when he saw the pale ghost-like Kita staring up at the sky. But she was unsteady, flickering like a television with bad reception.

"Kita…?" he asked quietly. He stared at it for some time. The ghost seemed to be completely unaware of its surroundings. Even after he'd found the courage to plunge a hand straight into the opaque body it didn't react. Nothing physical seemed to be able to connect with it as he flapped a hand through where its face was supposed to be.

Sora paused, unsure if what he was about to do would work. But it was worth a go, right? He concentrated harder to make his thoughts loud.

_'Kita…?'_

The ghost turned her head suddenly, the flickering clearing as though the reception had finally picked up a signal.

_'Sora?'_

For the briefest of moments there were two of Kita in the room with him. Sora stared at the ghost-Kita in bewilderment, but as soon as he blinked it had gone. Kita jolted awake, yelping as her nose smashed against the floor. She held it sorely and rolled onto her back with a groan.

Sora leaned over her. "Are you… okay?" He felt himself give an involuntary shudder despite trying his best to keep calm. She held a hand up, blood covering it. Her nose was dripping. "I'll get you a towel," he offered, looking around for something. He grabbed a roll of paper towels from the bench and handed it to her.

Kita held her head back with one of the towels over her face trying to stem the flow. "Stupid, stupid, supid," she muttered nasally. She glanced over at him – no doubt the uncertainty was showing on his face. "I should have told you that's what happens."

"So that ghost-thing of you standing next to your body… uh…" Sora paused. This was awkward to word.

"…What?" Kita glanced up at him strangely.

Okay, make that awkward in _general._ The look on Kita's face was enough to tell him that. Sora scratched the back of his neck. "I used my bloodline to talk to you, and you said my name, but then you – that ghost-you – vanished and you woke up."

"I… I don't remember it." Kita frowned to herself. She was quiet, Sora sure she was trying to work out exactly what she'd been told. "I'll go clean up," she said softly, getting up and heading towards the bathroom.

Sora took a deep breath and settled himself onto a chair at the kitchen table. So much for that "unexpected" welcome before – this was almost too much now. Just what had happened? All of that all of a sudden… Sora guessed he had managed that relatively well though. His mother had told him enough times to stay calm when in the face of unsettling things. The ninja world was full of unusual and frightening things, but he wasn't sure what was stranger – Kita or the fact he could see that ghost. If he brought his sister over, would she see that, or was it just him?

He peered up as he heard fast footsteps running around upstairs. He waited for a while, expecting Kita to appear any second.

She didn't. Sora frowned and followed the hallway and stairs until he found himself in the attic with Kita surrounded by scrolls. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Research," she replied simply. It seemed like he was hardly there now as she was reading furiously.

Suddenly, Sora was unsure about that fragile person he'd seen before. He could also see a person who wanted to be independent – fiercely so – and it wasn't in the same way that Yanagi pushed away help. Sora had to wonder if someone so determined to believe they were fine was also aware of how they were pushing people away. He wasn't sure if he should have cared, because after all, he still wasn't sure he even knew the person before him. It was a lot like she was still a stranger. But he didn't want to just leave things with how she said they were though, it felt too wrong. "Will you still come along to the picnic?" he asked her. She paused, glancing up at him. "Yanagi-chan and Hisae-chan really want to see you. You don't have to work so hard, we'll make sure you're okay if you're not yet."

"I don't want to be a burden," she muttered. Her gaze lowered, not wanting to look up at him for that comment.

"You won't be, all they'll care about is if you come or not." His jaw tightened, he knew there was more he should say. "We should have come to see how you were earlier, I'm sorry. If anyone should have come earlier, it should have been me though. I would have seen… _that_… earlier and I could have helped you with this." He sat down next to her and grabbed a scroll, ignoring her look of surprise. There were still a lot of mysteries here, but the biggest one he felt was the most frightening – the future. After seeing the guilt Yanagi and Hisae had at not visiting and wanting to rectify that, the last thing he wanted to see were their broken hearts.

* * *

"Kitaaa…!"

The girl was swept up in a flurry of arms. Yanagi squeezed her tightly.

"I'm so glad you came! Hisae's been worried all week that you wouldn't be able to, but I kept telling her you would." Yanagi ungracefully let Kita go, the girl stumbling a little from being off-balance. Yanagi lent down a little with a curious look on her face. "Were you always that short? Maybe I've just grown too much. My mother is pretty tall." She laughed before grabbing Kita by the hand.

Kita's mouth twitched awkwardly, she hadn't managed to get a word in yet, although she felt like she didn't know what to say. She glanced around – they were in the town market where they were supposed to meet up. Not wanting to make everyone wait, she'd turned up twenty minutes earlier. It was a good time to take a proper test run on the experiment she and Sora had come up with as well, and so far, so good.

"Hisae! Hisae!" Yanagi dragged Kita behind her. The green-haired girl pushed her glasses up her nose to see them as they approached. She waved.

"Kita-chan, you made it," she said happily, almost relieved.

"I told you she'd come." Yanagi grinned triumphantly. Kita reminded herself not to make any bets with her – she'd forgotten that Yanagi wasn't exactly a gracious winner. Hisae placed the large basket she was carrying on the ground. Kita caught the smell of food in it, something still warm. Yanagi placed her backpack next to it, raising an eyebrow at Kita. "Don't you dare look in there yet," she told her.

Hisae's mouth twitched. "Please don't make her more curious, Yanagi-chan."

Kita shrugged at them, playing dumb for a moment. She almost couldn't believe she'd missed this sort of thing. All those months of being shut-up in that attic had been by her own doing? And letting herself feel that Tansei was the only one who still thought about her. She felt embarrassed, but she'd also been embarrassed by her condition. She remembered all the cards of sympathy she'd received at the hospital and the feeling of failure – she was supposed to be a shinobi, not some pitiful kid who couldn't do a thing for herself. It was purpose she was looking for. Still… even if she was forever stuck not being able to be a shinobi, she was glad there were some people here that didn't mind that.

"Sora! You're late, as usual!" Yanagi placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him. He grinned in return, leading her to roll her eyes. "As punishment you have to carry the basket."

"I'd do it even if you just asked me, Yanagi-chan," he replied overly-sweet to gain her annoyance. He picked up the basket with a grunt and waited a moment until Yanagi and Hisae were in front. Kita looked at him questioningly. "Remember to not say anything in front of Yanagi-chan about Tansei, okay?" he whispered.

She nodded, they had talked quite a bit during the week. It was a little surprising to Kita – she had never really felt very friendly with Sora, maybe even that he had purposely tried to avoid her before – but now all of a sudden he had come to visit with that invitation and had offered to help on top of that. They had gotten more done in that one week than she had that entire time alone. Sora seemed to have a bit more of an idea of what she should have been looking for than she did. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

"You guys are going _way_ too slow!" Yanagi complained over her shoulder at them before smiling. "Come on already!"

Kita was tiring quickly by the time they reached the forest. Having only those short training sessions with Tansei every few days between being in that cramped attic hadn't really done anything to her stamina. She glanced up at forest leading towards the top of the ridge, hoping that they didn't have to climb it. A hollow thump caught her attention instead. Hisae struggled with a wooden door of some sort set in the ground. It flipped up and over, landing on the grass with another thump. They gathered around, peering down at a stairway that led into darkness.

"Sora-kun, can you hand me the flashlights from the basket please?" asked Hisae. Sora dug around in the basket for a moment, finding them easily and passing one on to Hisae. It flickered to life, illuminating the stairwell. Hisae started down it with her hand firmly on the guiding rail. Sora passed the other to Kita. She switched it on and followed them. Down and down it went for ages with their footsteps resonating on the iron stairs until they reached a straight tunnel. Hisae paused for a moment until everyone was off the stairs. "We're under the mountains now," she explained. "Watch out for rocks on the floor."

Kita shone the light around, worried just a little about the fact that thousands of tonnes of rock were just above their heads. Tiny glimmers of light at the far end of the tunnel caught her eye. They soon came to the end with a short ladder leading up. Sunshine beamed from around the corners of a door above them, this time made of metal. Hisae crawled up and undid a number of clamps around the edges. She was able to slide it much more easily across now. Light and fresh air poured down onto them. The sound of rushing water echoed down the tunnel. When Kita emerged she was met by the sight of a waterfall. Trees greener than she'd ever seen were here, unlike in the basin of the village's small forests. The grass was long and soft and rippled in the breeze like a green lake.

Yanagi twirled around in the grass entranced by it all. "How'd you find this place, Hisae? What was that tunnel?"

Hisae's mouth opened and closed a few times, as though unsure what to say for a little while. She finally began to speak, although her words sounded carefully chosen. "They use the tunnel for evacuations, and there's an old map of them all at home that I found," she explained. "I went exploring and found this place. It's nice and peaceful, so I visit it a lot."

As the others set up the picnic and Kita was shooed away for the moment by Yanagi, she wandered over towards the waterfall. The water didn't fall into a pool on the ground though; instead it just kept going into a deep hole through the rocks. She stepped back from it, not wanting to accidentally slip and fall. Something was a little strange about the hole, however. She could see something of a ditch in the grass, where the stalks were a bit greener and lower. The hole was jagged, not smooth, like the ground had torn apart. Kita stared down into the abyss for a while, wondering if an earthquake from many years ago had done this. Over the echo of the water she heard someone calling her name and turned. Yanagi was waving for her to come back. She wandered back and sat down on the blanket where they were surrounded by the tall stalks of grass. The feast spread out on the blanket was better than anything she'd seen in recent days and the little voice in her head told her to make the best of it.

"I can't believe what a cool place this is!" Yanagi exclaimed as she carefully poured juice into plastic mugs. "If I ever get a big house with a big garden, I want it to look like this."

"Ninja don't make _that_ much money, Yanagi-chan," replied Sora.

"That's why I'll become a missing-nin and get lots of money all for myself." Her voice cracked into giggles after seeing Sora's look of horror. "You're too gullible, Sora."

"You're right, Yanagi-chan!" Sora exclaimed in a lamenting tone. He clapped both his hands to his cheeks as if in shock. "I'm even gullible enough to believe that you'll become Tsuchikage one day!"

"No juice for you!" Yanagi snapped back.

Kita hid a smirk, knowing they were just playing off of each other. They seemed to have distracted Hisae from whatever thoughts she was having too – although Kita remembered her as being someone of little words, there was something just a bit quieter about her today. She had every reason to be curious, but today was meant to be enjoyable. She watched Yanagi and Sora joke around for a while, occasionally trying her best to join in as well when there was an opening, but even Hisae ended up talking more than she did. A slight feeling of disappointment, but every little effort counts, she decided. It was some time before they actually managed to finish the food they'd brought between all the talking and messing around. Yanagi finally pulled her backpack in front of her and pulled out a package, handing it to Kita with a smile.

"This is from us," she said. "To say we missed you."

Kita carefully undid the small package wrapped in soft pink paper. Inside was a necklace of shiny white beads that reflected colour like a rainbow. She pulled it out with a look of astonishment on her face. She'd never had anything like this before – the world of looking pretty and jewellery seemed like something so far away to her, yet here was a piece of it being held in her hand. Kita lowered her head, overwhelmed. "Th-thank you," she managed to say. "It's beautiful." She glanced up at them, putting on her best smile. It faltered when she saw the look on Sora's face though. The boy quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward. His hand reached for her neck, where a length of colourful string had been wrapped around it. Before she knew it, he had broken it apart.

A few moments later and her world turned dark.

* * *

**A/N:** No notes this time either!


	12. Team Omega

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Chapter tweeeeelve. Thanks for waiting, everyone! Oh, and over 1000 views? You guys are awesome!

* * *

**_Chapter 12: Team Omega_**

Sora threw the string onto the ground, it wouldn't be needed any longer. Prying open Kita's hand he grabbed the necklace off her.

"Sora! What the hell are you doing?" demanded Yanagi. Hisae's eyes had gone wide.

"It's okay," he reassured them. Yanagi lunged and seized him by the wrist, anger written all over her face.

"She faints like that and you're telling us she's okay?" she exclaimed. "Are you nuts? What did you do?"

"Yanagi-chan, it's okay. I'm performing a miracle," he said, trying to sound his sincerest. Somehow, that look she gave him made him feel incredibly guilty. The dark haired girl paused, caught off-guard by the comment. He managed to wrestle his hand from her grip and continue working.

He wrapped the necklace around Kita's arm tightly. He'd been thinking about this, but putting something tightly around your neck didn't really seem that safe. At least this necklace was sturdier than that string. He glanced up at Yanagi and grinned to try and calm her down some more. Sora made sure the necklace was secure before he started. The white strings of his concentration fizzled into being. Kita's ghost stood nearby, staring up at the sky. Conjuring up that imaginary hand, he grabbed the string connecting him to her mind and began to work stitching things together.

He felt obligated to do this. He hadn't given away too many details to Kita during that past week, but there was some sort of strange guilt that had built up and had worried him. That day he stood there watching those events… had he done something accidentally? In those moments where the noise had become too much and opened a Pandora's Box in his head, had that been the cause of all this? He remembered the voices and the pain, and then suddenly seeing the girl's body on the ground and some weird shape appear before the house. It was cause to worry – she'd been in such a panic – maybe he had unintentionally done some sort of feedback that affected her worse than anyone else, making her seem to "fall out" of her body from shock (something that sounded so bizarre to him). Maybe it was an explanation for why he could see this ghost of hers though. He'd been too curious before if he was the only one. He didn't tell Kita the real reason, but during that week he had persuaded his sister to bring them lunch at the house. As he had hoped, Kita had passed out and he'd put her in the living room on the lounge so it looked like she was sleeping. Yoimi had been a little suspicious when Sora asked if they could do some quick training while Kita was "sleeping", but eventually agreed.

The result was what he thought it would be – his sister had seen and felt nothing. It worried him even more.

"Sora… really, what _are_ you doing?" asked Yanagi again. She'd calmed down, but her tone was still wary.

"It's a little hard to explain," he replied. "I'm using the necklace as a base."

More curious now, Yanagi leaned over and pinched Kita's cheek. "She's really out of it…" Hisae leant in a little closer as well, worry still over her face though.

"Sometimes Kita passes out, it's like her… uh, mind… wanders off. I thought maybe if I can use my bloodline to help her, it'd be to keep her from passing out like that. And this necklace should help, hopefully." Sora frowned to himself – this was _really _complicated to put into words. He let go of Kita's arm, finally finished.

"I don't think I understand," murmured Hisae. Sora had almost wondered if she'd passed out in shock during this, she'd been so quiet. Her knuckles had gone white as she wrung her hands on the material of her skirt.

He guessed he wasn't very good at explaining things either. "It's not that hard if you think of it like knots… no, a hand holding onto someone."

"And if you took it off it'd be like letting go?" asked Yanagi. Sora nodded.

"That sounds a little scary," Hisae said quietly. She flinched as Kita groaned and sat up.

The light-haired girl stared daggers at Sora. "You could have warned me before doing that," she grumbled.

"Nice way to thank me!" he retorted with a grin. He led her gaze to her arm. "There, now don't take that off."

She gave something halfway between a smile and look of irritation. It didn't cause him to smile the same way Yanagi's expressions did, but he was glad to see some sort of response from her. Yanagi clamped herself onto Kita's arm, muttering about how irritated she was with him and how worried she'd been. Kita looked obviously awkward from the girl's strong sense of possession over her.

"Kita-chan…" Hisae pushed her glasses back up to see properly. Sora noticed she'd been doing that quite a few times today – her face seemed clammy – and not from the weather.

Kita managed to shrug Yanagi off and sighed, taking Hisae's expression as concern. "I'm okay."

Hisae's expression lightened slightly. "Does… Does this mean you can return to class now?" she asked.

The girl paused, the realisation of this achievement seeming to suddenly hit her. She hadn't even talked about school that week, just anticipation of the picnic. A genuine smile tugged at her lips this time. "Yeah, I'll do my best to catch up to you all."

* * *

Slanted shafts of sunlight told that the day was drawing closer to an end. Yanagi hopped to her feet and tapped Sora on the shoulder, tagging him as 'it'. She vanished off into the long grass, him giving chase. Kita turned back from watching the trails disappear and to Hisae. "You want to play?" she asked.

"I'm okay here," she replied with a shake of her head.

"Okay." Kita decided to stay as well – in this grass Sora and Yanagi would never be able to tell if they were playing or not. "Hisae-chan, is there something about this place you don't like?"

The girl froze. "Uh, um…" Her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose again, her hands automatically going to push them up. "Why… do you ask?"

Kita glanced up at the sky. The big blue was fading to gold and reds. "I'm not sure. It's just you looked a lot better before we came here." It was the truth too. Before going into that tunnel Hisae had seemed a lot more cheerful, now she just seemed pale.

Hisae's shoulders drooped, as thought some sort of weight was upon them. "I didn't find this place myself," she admitted quickly and quietly in case Sora or Yanagi were nearby. Kita strained to hear her as well. "T-Tansei-nii-san showed me this place, because he wanted us to train together. He doesn't come here anymore though. Not since… not for some time…" She trailed off, not wanting to say any more. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her glasses.

"Hisae-chan, I think you should know, but since I came out of the hospital Tansei has been visiting me. He's been helping me with some training." Kita was unsure why she said it, but it was more of a compulsion to say something about it to her. Hisae's face had gone even paler. "He offered although I told him at the time I'd probably never be able to go back to school, but he still encouraged me," she added.

The girl was trembling now. "I… see," she whispered. Her eyes flitted from side to side, full of uncertainty. Kita had no idea what kind of thoughts were going through her head. After a little while, Hisae seemed to settle on something although her hands still shook as she began to pack up what remained of the picnic. Sora and Yanagi eventually returned a few minutes later, bursting in from the grass and falling onto the blanket and on top of Kita. The moments she'd had with Hisae suddenly vanished as she was caught up in the laughter.

* * *

The house was empty. No matter how many times he knocked the noise just echoed throughout the place. The door was locked too, something that normally was never done. Kita never kept it locked… this was strange. Tansei frowned to himself. She hadn't been able to see him all week because she said she'd been too busy, and now she had just vanished. Without her around he'd even subjected himself to attending class for a few days out of sheer boredom, having to put up with such infantile lessons he already knew.

And he'd found himself in class again. It was strange, Sora hadn't been around much either.

"Tansei-kun!" Yanagi dropped her books on the desk as quickly as she could, claiming the spot next to him. She gave a smile at him at made him feel edgy. Tansei hid a look of irritation from her. "I'm so glad you're here. It's been really boring without Hisae here. "

The silence following was a little awkward, to the girl at least. He didn't care really.

"Uh, and it's great that you're here instead of Sora for once," she continued to blab on and fill the silence. "He's so annoying sometimes. It's a good thing he's off helping Tsuchikage-sama with Kita's lessons."

He turned towards her suddenly. "What did you say?"

She smiled again, so glad to get attention from him. "I said it was a good thing he's off helping Tsuchikage-sama with Kita's lessons."

"No, not that," he snapped. "What do you mean about 'lessons'?"

"You mean you didn't know?" The smile faded into a look of confusion. "I'm sure they meant to tell you, but things have been pretty busy."

"Just tell me what's going on," he interrupted her.

She glanced up thoughtfully, trying to put everything into sequence properly. "Well, Sora worked out a way to help Kita's illness so she can attend lessons again, but she was so far behind she wouldn't be able to catch up normally. So then the Tsuchikage heard about the situation and he offered to give Kita private lessons. Sora's been over there helping as well. But isn't that cool? That means Kita can graduate with us after all."

His chair clattered to the ground. Yanagi called after him as he stormed out of the classroom but he couldn't care less. So _this_ was what had happened? After all those hours he put in to helping her, she suddenly just acted like he didn't exist? She wasn't even bothered to tell him she was better… This was all Sora's fault, he was sure. He'd probably told her to stop wasting time with him and had taken over. Sora had always liked Yanagi, yet now he was spending all his time with Kita? Had Sora become jealous of him and Kita? And now… and now he was there with his uncle, helping with training. Lessons _he_ deserved to have! Betrayal – that was what this was. He wouldn't be able to forgive him.

* * *

Some time after the picnic, Kita fitted the last tatami mat in place. She frowned down at the floor, the room suddenly feeling so different. She'd made this decision a few weeks ago – the day before graduation she'd cover up the stain in the living room. The "shadowy" feeling was still in place, but less so than before. The room felt less suffocating now. It was still strange to her in a way, she had no real idea what had happened or _who_ it had happened to, but she found it so hard to put those mats over the top.

It was a new start though. She'd pass the exams, no doubt. She wanted to let go of those worries she had about those lost memories. She had to focus on what she had, not what she didn't have. In time she'd make new memories – ones she would make sure to hold tightly onto.

Tomorrow was a big day, she had to rest. Taking a seat on the lounge, she rested her head on the armrest and folded her sleeve up. The white beads shone dully in the light as she undid the clasp and let them slip off her arm. She'd just have to wait for the darkness to come now. When that thing was on she somehow found herself waking up more tired than the night before, and sometimes unable to sleep at all despite feeling so drained at the end of the day. It was something she'd have to hope would get worked out eventually.

But then, she really was more tired than usual. Benkei-sama had been running her around a lot in the days coming up to this. She had to wonder why he had been so keen to push her like this or offer to help in the first place. He wasn't obliged to help exactly. She just had to suppose it had to do with Hissori Mitsukai – the mysterious name on the headstone that was supposed to represent her father.

She began to think back over the past few months before her decision to try and start anew. It was a little strange, but she hadn't seen Tansei around in a while… A few weeks after starting her lessons she'd been able to find him in his usual training place. He seemed to be okay with the whole situation, but there was a look in his eyes that suggested otherwise. And after that she'd only ever seen him out of the edge of her vision. Avoiding her? Maybe…

Maybe he was just trying to focus on tomorrow's exams as well. She had to pass, she just had to. She couldn't stand the thought of failing. It'd be like losing that purpose she was still searching for. Maybe she'd just leave those beads off and drift forever.

But she didn't. She woke up exactly where she'd left herself on the lounge, as if she'd closed her eyes for a brief moment. The only "dream" she ever had was the one where she woke up from the darkness.

* * *

He'd passed. It was a miracle really, Sora had almost expected to mess everything up, but he had also been surprised at how easy the test was as well – a quick written exam and then showing off some basic jutsu and throwing a few kunai and shuriken. It seemed more like it had to do with percentages or something, adding up previous test results and that. He wished he had known that earlier, or else maybe he wouldn't have stressed out so much. He hadn't done too badly in the past exams.

It was the day after now. He'd soon learn about what team he'd be placed in. He glanced around the room. Kita, Tansei _and_ Hisae were missing. They had been here yesterday, but now where were they? He felt worried. Hisae had looked pale yesterday, and Tansei looked like he was about to punch a wall. The worst thing he could imagine was if those two got placed on a team together. There was no way they'd allow that though, right? He was sure the Tsuchikage wouldn't allow it, he was sure to know what exactly was going on between those two.

Although… no, he couldn't think of it. They had to have passed, surely.

Yanagi groaned and placed her head on the desk. "Soraaaa, this is taking too long. I want to know if I'm in a team with Tansei-kun."

"I wanna know if I'm in a team with _you_," he responded back quickly, flashing a grin to annoy her. She rolled her eyes. He dropped the grin after a few moments. The worry was building up again – so much for being stressed about exams – thinking about team arrangements was much worse.

The two of them glanced up as team names started to be read out. People wearing jounin outfits started to file in and leave when their group was completed. Sora listened for names intently, and not just his. But they never came. Soon the only ones left in the room were Yanagi and him. There were no jounin left either. Sora and Yanagi exchanged looks in the silence.

Their teacher looked up at them. "You're both still here?"

"Where are we supposed to be?" Yanagi leaned forward, giving him a hard glare.

The man scratched the back of his neck. "Guess I forgot to tell you then. Your instructor is waiting in training chamber six with your other team mate. You'll have to take the elevator nearest to Hourui Mountain."

They both placed their foreheads on the desk.

"Could have told us sooner," muttered Sora.

"I'm with Sora…" Yanagi sighed. She leapt up, holding a fist determinedly. "But then… this could mean I'm still with Tansei-kun!" She raced to the door, tearing it open and barrelling down the hallway.

Sora stood and followed after. He glanced down at the forehead protector he'd wrapped around his leg. The metal glinted in the morning sunlight.

He soon caught up to Yanagi, the girl had stopped to window shop. Typical really, but cute too as she stared down at diamond rings with those big blue eyes of hers. "When you're older I'll get you one of those," he said when he stood next to her.

"You better damn well not," she retorted. "I can see right through that plan."

He put a hand to his forehead, staggering backwards in shock. "But I thought we were going to have some lovey-dovey ninja partnership where we kicked butt together! You're killing my dreams, Yanagi-chaaan!"

"Ugh, and creating my nightmares," she murmured. She placed her hands on her hips. "You better not keep this sort of stuff up when Tansei-kun's around, or else you'll ruin my chances. Now come on already, we're late!"

Sora followed her again. The grin he had on slowly shrank away. If… If Tansei really _did_ end up on their team, where would that leave him? The sort of fun he had with Yanagi would probably no longer be something she went along with so easily. In just one day it felt like he had gone from being a friend to just an annoyance…

He let Yanagi pull the lever for the elevator. He stayed in the corner, unsure of what sort of future he was heading for.

The mine shaft led down into the darkness with only a lone bulb dangling over their heads to light the way. They were heading for the underground training facilities far under the mountains. Tunnels snaked out in every direction under the village, a riddle of paths to lose yourself in. Sora and Yanagi found chamber six with ease. It wasn't more a cave than a simulated forest. Sunlight beamed in from carefully placed mirrors, directing light from air shafts dug into the mountains. Everything around them was green and thriving.

They heard voices echoing from further inside. Yanagi sprinted through the long grass, eager to find out who was here. Sora kept his leisurely pace, letting his bloodline flow out to hear instead. Yanagi's thoughts were of disappointment. He didn't want to smile at her displeasure but the other voices he heard forced him to.

"About time you made it," remarked Kita.

* * *

**A/N:** No notes here either, unless I forgot something.


	13. Concerning

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Hey everyone! Hope you've been having a good time. I went to an anime convention last week. I cosplayed as Marie from Soul Eater and then timeskip Hinata. Unfortunately I couldn't find any Narutos to stalk that day because they all vanished after Saturday, haha.

* * *

**_Chapter 13: Concerning_**

"About time you made it," remarked Kita. She held out her fist. Sora bumped his own against it, something they'd started to do not too long ago. A thought ran through his head – where once he couldn't even admire their so-called friendship, something had definitely sprung up in its place.

Yanagi was pouting, she hadn't even taken notice of the man that stood next to Kita. He gave a twitch of a smile at Yanagi as he looked at her, obviously feeling awkward from the encounter. He changed his gaze to Sora, the smile becoming genuine now. "Glad to see you're okay, kiddo."

He nodded. "Yeah, I've been taking lessons on how to block out the noise, Kazuo-sensei."

"Heh," the man chuckled. He scratched his chin. "Never been called 'sensei' before – guess it's something I'll have to get used to with the promotion. Well, kiddos, there's some things we should do before we get started. Firstly, welcome to Team Omega, I'm Kazuo Shizukesa, your instructor." He glanced over at Yanagi as he said his name. She continued to sulk silently, mostly ignoring him. He sighed and continued. "You three are on a probational period, meaning I'll be tracking your progress through a number of basic missions and then marking you on it."

"Marking?" exclaimed Yanagi. Her attention had finally been swayed away from the topic of Tansei on her mind. "Is this some sort of exam or something?"

"Yes," he replied sternly. Sora could see this wasn't the sort of guy to sugar-coat things to kids exactly. "You can't expect to become a good ninja just by showing off some skills in a classroom. That's all fine for your academy teachers, but this is the real world now and there won't be anyone there to yell out instructions for you to follow if you get into trouble."

"Then, what happens if we fail?" she asked, worry in her tone. The surprise and anger she had before had been stripped away.

Kazuo frowned at her. "If you're lucky you go back to academy. If not you'll just have to find a job elsewhere."

Sora could see worry on Kita's face as well. After spending that time with her, he knew not being a ninja wasn't an option for her. She had little else to go for in life. And just what would his own mother say if he failed? It was something he didn't want to think about. Perhaps Yanagi would be alright, although he was sure she'd cry for days about it, but for him and Kita it wasn't something to so easily walk away from. "Kazuo-sensei, what do we get points for?" he asked. He'd read the front pages of enough exams to know there was always things you had to show and it wasn't always the destination but the journey to it.

"It's not that hard," replied the man. "You're only ten, but people expect you to act like adults now. Don't be selfish and learn to work together."

"Kazuo-sensei, what about marks for our _own_ progress? Not as a team." Kita glanced up at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her. He considered the question for a time, his gaze drifting up to the rays of sunlight beaming through the tree branches. "Individual strengths, huh… Look, I'll tell you something that I've come to learn over the years – it's good to have pride, but you can't let it rule your life. The higher your pride, the further you will have to fall. Sometimes if you throw away your pride you can find you've gained a lot more, and more often than not you'll find you have saved your own life too. That's why teamwork is so important."

There was a short silence as Sora exchanged glances with his team-mates. It was some sort of unsaid agreement between them that they wouldn't fail.

"Although, that's what the criteria by the book are _supposed_ to be," added Kazuo with a smirk. "There's always room for interpretation. You could all be self-indulged little snobs but still manage to get past as long as missions get completed. But I'm not allowing that, since the last thing I want to be doing is leading around a pack of snotty brats."

Somehow, Sora wasn't too convinced of those words. He didn't have to delve into the man's thoughts to know he was trying to set-up some sort of important bond between them all. Remembering back to _that_ day when Kazuo had brought him back to his mother, he could feel the man shaking despite the calm voice he put up. Just how would it feel to lose someone like that?

"Alright, kiddos," announced Kazuo loudly enough to make them jump, "introductions are over so get back home and rest. Our first mission will be tomorrow morning at seven. Meet in front of the administration building with your gear ready to go."

Yanagi went back to pouting. The distraction from being Tansei-less had only been momentary. Kita patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, guessing at her disappointment. Sora gave a crooked smile and started after them.

"Sora, hang on a moment, I want to talk." Kazuo put a firm hand on his head. They watched as the two girls left the cavern without them. The place suddenly seemed a lot bigger without them. "Benkei-sama told me you helped Kita with her… illness?"

He nodded. The man's mouth twitched uncomfortably.

"If a Kigaino is involved, then it's a matter of mind over body," he muttered. "Curious and curiouser…"

"Is something the matter, Kazuo-sensei?" Sora frowned. Hadn't he been told?

Kazuo shrugged. "There's no point hiding it from someone like you. There's just some things about Kita I feel you know better than I do. I don't know what you did with that kid, but she seems to have become a lot friendlier. You're a good influence on her."

Sora felt a little pride in that. Kita _had_ changed since that day he went to invite her to the picnic. That Kita back then had frightened him, someone who could so easily live without needing to connect to the world. But bit by bit she'd become different though – a friend now.

"I need you to tell me what you can about her," said Kazuo, his voice trying not to border on commanding. "If something important happened, I'd need to know if I could do anything."

He had a point. Sora began to tell him everything.

* * *

Kita found herself waking up on the couch again the next morning. She hadn't slept in her own room for ages, she realised. Somehow, she just kept winding up in the living room, upset by how sterile it felt in there. It'd take time, but she'd get used to it eventually.

Breakfast smelt pretty good – bacon and eggs on toast. Kita shovelled it into her mouth, although she found she could hardly eat it all. She had such a small appetite, yet felt the need to cook servings that were more suited to an adult.

"What a waste," she muttered as she threw the rest of her toast and bacon onto the front lawn for the birds to find. The mess that were the scrambled eggs went in the trash. She'd have to learn to take things in moderation too. But then, she couldn't even remember how she knew how to cook in the first place. That nurse had taught her perhaps? It seemed the only reasonable answer.

Crows cawed loudly from the front of the house. She'd never seen any birds but crows and ravens come to eat the scraps. All others avoided the house. They must have felt that shadow in the living room too. Maybe they'd come to get used to it too though.

Kita tied her forehead protector around her neck. It felt strange to have this new item she had to take with her wherever she went. The same for the holster she placed around her leg – she remembered the teachers continually saying to put things closest to where they'd be most helpful. She almost forgot to put her back pouch on her belt too. There were too many things to have to remember. Hopefully she had everything _inside_ those things too. It'd be more than just embarrassing if she forgot to bring kunai or anything else to her first mission.

The crows scattered into the air as she ran from the house.

* * *

Teaching children wasn't exactly something Kazuo was looking forward to, but then, he'd dug this hole and there was no way out of it now. Maybe these kids would grow on him? He was carefully optimistic about that thought though.

The Stone Tower showed seven o'clock high above him. Of course they'd be late… He remembered he'd almost missed _his_ first mission too, only to be saved by Hissori and Minami dragging him out of bed and dumping a bucket of water over his head.

Kazuo missed those times.

"Kazuo-sensei?" He looked down. Kita stared up at him with those purple eyes that reminded him again of those early days. She shoved a cup into his face. The smell of coffee filled his nostrils. "It's not good to wait out in the cold. Yanagi's still at home working out what to bring." Her hand was wrapped around a cup of something as well.

Kazuo gave a hint of a smile as he took the coffee from her. The warmth filled his hands, taking the chill of the air off. Before he knew it, the warm months had flown past and the mountains had started to descend into frost again. "Winter…" he muttered, catching the girl's attention. "It'll be your birthday soon, right? The big one-oh?"

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter much to me, it's better to worry about Christmas at that time of year."

He didn't respond immediately. It was a little sad, really – suddenly having nobody to spend special days with. "I'll buy you a present anyway," he said. "Payback for the coffee then, okay?"

"If you want…" she muttered. She scratched at her forearm subconsciously. Kazuo could see the white beads under her sleeve. It was amazing just what those two had come up with, Sora especially. That kid showed a lot of promise. But, as in all things, time would tell just how far all his kids would get. Heh… _his_ kids – strange thought.

He slowly drained his coffee, waiting patiently as the two specks in the distance finally reached them. Sora was already sweating, the large bag on his back the obvious culprit. Yanagi directed him to place it down. Not a single spot of sweat on her, although it was also obvious just _who_ the bag belonged to.

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yanagi, bringing something like that is… ridiculous."

"You can never be too prepared!" she retorted. "We might get stuck in the middle of a forest or a cave and I won't have anything to do my hair with, or my clothes might get ripped, or…"

Kazuo held a hand up to stop her, although a little awkward with the cup in his hand. He pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand. "Please say you didn't bring a hairdryer."

"What do you expect for me to dry my hair with?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him.

He was getting tired of that stubborn look, although he was sure he'd be seeing a lot of that one through his new career. "Yanagi… there's no power outlets in the middle of forests and caves."

"Oh." Realisation hit her.

Ah, the joys of youth and inexperience… Kazuo sighed. "You're fine the way you are, just leave the bag at the front desk and we'll pick it up when we're done. We'll probably only be gone until this evening. The council won't be putting any of you on anything but D-ranked missions at the moment." He started trudging up the stairs to the building, dropping his empty cup in a bin. If only he had the power to fill people with common sense, things would go a lot more smoothly.

"Yanagi-chaaan, we gotta go!" moaned Sora after they'd filed into the entrance hall. The girl was going through her bag checking for anything 'super-necessary'.

"I need my hairbrush!" yelled Yanagi, half of her body stuck inside the bag. Kita was holding onto the back of her shirt, making sure she didn't completely fall over.

"You don't need one," Kita told her.

"Says you!" responded the girl. "Do you even brush your hair at all, Kita?"

"Not really…" Kita put both hands to her head, feeling at the bird's nest that was her hair. Yanagi gave a yelp, falling over into the bag without Kita's hand to hold her back.

Kazuo ran a hand down his face. They were already half an hour late as it was; at this rate they were going to get scolded.

It took another five minutes just to help Yanagi out from the bag. They looked stressed and a mess by the time they reached the office. Kazuo let the kids enter before he did – he knew what they were in for.

"_Team Omega! You're obscenely late!_"

All eyes in the office turned to the group coming in the door. The chaos that usually ran around the desks here had come to a halt with that screech. Kazuo avoided their gazes and shuffled his team towards the desk where the voice had come from. The little old lady pointed a harisen at them threateningly until they were finally standing before her. She slapped the fan on the table, making the children jump.

"Kaz-chan, I expected much better from you!" she scolded. "You're lucky you've still got enough brownie points with me or else I wouldn't have saved this mission for you."

"Baa-chan, there's really no need…" He was cut off as she hit the fan on the desk again. The kids were staring back and forth at them – probably wondering how he was related to someone like this. Even _he_ couldn't believe he was related to this woman sometimes.

His grandmother leaned forward and held a piece of paper up. "I'm going to have to have a _long_ talk with your parents about your tardiness. Now you run along with your friends and be back before bedtime."

Mentally, he face-palmed himself – as if this was one of the first things he wanted his students to see. His grandmother was an old biddy who refused to see him as anything but a child. Regardless, he thanked her and accepted the mission paper, taking the children away as soon as possible. The chaos had returned again to the office. For a ninja office it really was no different from any other paper-pushing business. He grabbed the back of Sora's collar to stop the boy from walking into a man carrying more boxes than he could see over. The boy suddenly twitched, head turning towards the double-doors at the far end of the room – the doors that led to the Tsuchikage's office. Yanagi and Kita followed his gaze. The doors opened and a boy walked out, his stride confident.

"Tansei-kun!" exclaimed Yanagi happily. She waved excitedly to him as he drew closer. He paused before them, eyes sweeping over the group. Kazuo felt himself frown. It wasn't his attitude that annoyed him though… "What are you doing here, Tansei-kun?" asked Yanagi. The girl's face was going red from blushing.

The boy glanced up at the ceiling, a smug look on his face. "Just collecting my forehead protector – my team wasn't able to meet yesterday." He gave a curt nod at them, the metal of his forehead protector glinting in the light. "Guess I should get going then. They can't start without me."

"Tansei, wait," Sora called after him. The green-haired boy turned back, expression still smug. "You're not on the same team as Hisae, are you?"

Kazuo only barely caught the struggle to hide a smile on the boy's face. Instead he shrugged and shook his head. "Didn't you hear? She didn't pass the exams. She said she wants to give up being a ninja now. Suppose it's for the best." He turned back and casually waved a farewell.

The children stood there for a while, stunned. Yanagi turned to look up at Kazuo. "She… didn't pass? But then…"

He placed a hand on the girl's head. "Things like this happen, Yanagi. We don't have the time to sort them out right now though, we're late for our mission."

"It'll be alright, Yanagi-chan," Sora said quietly. He hid his fists behind his back, his knuckles white from squeezing so hard. Kazuo caught Kita's gaze. The girl frowned, although he knew it wasn't directed at him exactly. There was definitely something going on with those kids.

What concerned him more was that rumour though. Wasn't it true that kid wasn't allowed to become a genin? But maybe something had changed, he didn't know. He hardly knew about the reason for that rumour either. Benkei-sama was like a second father to him, but even then there were things he didn't tell him. "Alright, enough standing around," he muttered. "Time to get on with the mission."

He was a little glad that Tansei kid had interrupted them like that though. The kids seemed to have forgotten all about his half-crazed grandma. Well, at least until they came back tonight to report they'd finished… He sighed as they began to descend the stairs.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't think there's any notes… if there's anything you think I missed, please tell me. And thanks Clark for beta-ing!


	14. In the Dead of Night

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Hey everyone, time for another chapter! I've been a little as of late. I might be getting a job doing some advertising for a website, which is kinda cool. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**_Chapter 14: In the Dead of Night_**

"I can't believe that lady is Kazuo-sensei's _grandmother_. She looks like she walked off the set of a comedy show carrying that harisen around." Yanagi clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at the night sky.

"I'm tired enough to believe anything at the moment," muttered Sora. He was barely able to carry the bag Yanagi had left at the desk that morning.

Kita felt the ache of being tired but unable to find any rest. Somehow, whenever she had Sora's bracelet on it forced her into sleeplessness. This was the negative they'd discovered to the positive of keeping her awake. It quite literally drained her until she had no energy to move. She couldn't close her eyes and drift off into unconsciousness like she used to – not until she pulled it off when she got home. She wouldn't be able to sleep without waking up every few moments otherwise. She glanced up at the streetlights, stark beams lighting the way home.

"Oh, and today was really lame," Yanagi complained. "So much for a big important mission on our first day! Chasing crows away from some guy's farm has got to be the most boring mission ever."

"You should keep your expectations low," Kita replied. She had no idea how someone in their position could envision such grandeur on the first day. Of _course_ it was going to be boring. Although, Yanagi hadn't admitted the smile on her face as they made scarecrows that looked like each other.

Yanagi stopped in the middle of the path, Sora bumping into the back of her. She ignored him for the moment as a look of thought spread over her face. "We've got tomorrow off and then another mission the day after," she said to them. "We should find Hisae tomorrow."

Sora placed the bag on the ground, relieved to have the weight off him. "She might not want to see us at the moment," he said. "She probably has a lot of things she wants to sort out for herself."

The dark-haired girl placed her hands on her hips – the sure sign Kita had come to know as her stubbornness arising. "I can't accept that she'd just give up so easily," she snapped back. "She might be waiting for someone to go cheer her up. Kita, what do you think?"

She blinked, caught off-guard. She glanced away uneasily. "You guys know I'm not too good with this stuff… but Sora might be right." All this friendship/relationship stuff always felt somewhat awkward to her.

"I know what Hisae's like. If we left her she'd just keep telling herself how horribly she messed up…" Yanagi chewed her bottom lip. It surprised Kita to see her like this. Normally Yanagi just seemed… well, selfish. "It's just we studied so hard together, and we promised we'd make it. She broke her promise, it's not fair. She shouldn't give up because of it."

"She might be waiting for us to go, but then what if we mess things up?" asked Sora. "We'll accidentally let slip something about how _we_ graduated and that might make her feel worse. We shouldn't go rushing over there and push her when she doesn't want it."

"We should wait for her," said Kita. She tried to keep the questioning tone out of her voice, she couldn't let herself sound like an idiot. "She'll come talk to us when she's ready, right?" Mentally she slapped herself for letting her words slip out like that.

Sora nodded at her. "Yanagi-chan, it's for our own good that we stay away. I'm sure Tsuchikage-sama has wiser things to say to her than we do."

Yanagi grumbled to herself, obviously beaten by his argument. Sora grunted as he picked the bag back up. Kita eyed it suspiciously – just what was in that thing anyway? Apart from a hairdryer, of course. She thought back over that morning, one other particular suspicion surfacing in her mind.

"Tansei…" she muttered. The other two glanced at her questioningly. "Why wasn't he able to get his headband yesterday?"

Sora shrugged the best he could with the heavy bag on his shoulders. "I dunno, but it was kind of strange."

"Strange?" Yanagi scowled at him. "There's nothing strange about that. Just leave Tansei-kun alone, he's supposed to be our friend."

Kita let the subject go immediately. They probably knew as much as she did. Still, there was just something… a look in Tansei's eyes as he spoke to them that morning. He'd always seemed confident before, but with that forehead protector perched on his head like a crown it seemed like he'd won something – even greater than just graduating. There was something shivering inside Tansei, not from fear, but from anticipation.

* * *

It suddenly felt strange to have such things as "a day off from work". The day felt completely different from having a day off from school or something like that. After trying to be lazy all morning he found it simply didn't feel right, even though he was still tired from the day before. Sora strapped his leg-holster on. He was going to spend the rest of the day training and feeling productive for once. Maybe if they all trained a bit more they'd get better missions. The thought of having to spend the rest of his days chasing crows didn't comfort him in the least, not when he had something to prove. His family weren't involved in things like combat missions. They worked as part of the local police force, in intelligence and interrogation, shuffling papers for the Tsuchikage – hardly ever going outside the boundaries of the village unless it was something like spy work. Even then it was usually low-risk stuff.

He'd refused home training to go to academy. He wanted to be able to travel and be able to use the sorts of skills he had properly. His mother, although against the idea at first, had caved, but in that same moment decided she would make life hell for him in order to toughen him up for that outside world. It took him a while to realise that. Although he hated it, he knew that she was doing it to help him. She was sad too with what the Kigaino had become. They'd slowly become sheltered from the world, even before the Mitsukai clan had been wiped out. But it seemed that after that event clans were suddenly treated like they were sacred old relics, ones that should be handled as though made of glass.

Sora didn't want to see himself as some nerdy guy working behind a desk. He wanted to be cool, strong, grow up to be the kind of man that could do the impossible and stand tall. And maybe… just maybe be respected by Yanagi. He felt a lot of pain over the argument they had last night. He could have simply agreed, but what if they really did make things worse? Hisae would probably hide in her room and never come out, Yanagi would be completely depressed and blame him, and Kita… well, he wasn't sure how she'd respond, but he liked to think she'd be at least concerned.

He pouted to himself and picked up his bag from the door, shoulders still stiff from yesterday. He was such a sucker for helping Yanagi pack yesterday. He'd dug his own grave there when he ended up carrying it for her. Glancing back up the stairs, he found the string that belonged to his sister. She was in her room, as usual, using her bloodline to talk to her friends.

_'I'm going out training for a while. I might be back late tonight.'_

_'Alright,'_ came the reply. _'And stop interrupting me when I'm talking.'_

_'But you're always talking. Are you sure you're not some sort of alien that needs to talk to live instead of breathing?' _he retorted, shutting her voice off as she tried to insult him back. He grinned and ran out the door, hearing her footsteps pounding down the hallway. The outside air was crisp with the onset of winter. It'd start to snow soon enough. He was lucky in the meanwhile, or else his footprints in the snow would have led his sister to track him down.

Half an hour later and he was in one of the forests on the outskirts of the village. The ground sloped gently up to the ridge. A herd of small deer scattered as he pushed through the bushes. The grass was nibbled short in the open space. Light flickered through the leaves surrounding him. It was quiet out here, just how he liked it. He zipped his backpack open and began to set-up. A picnic rug to eat his lunch on later, the bento box he'd packed this morning (and wished that Yanagi had packed it instead), a target board, and wire to help create a makeshift training dummy. He realised he probably wouldn't get around to making it though, he was just so glad for the quiet that he felt like sleeping instead. So much for feeling productive…

A few minutes later and he was spread-eagle on the blanket sleeping peacefully.

* * *

Sora grimaced in his sleep. Something was bothering him. Noise? But what kind of noise, external or mental? He grunted and sat up, temporarily confused about where he was. It was dark, cold, silent but for that one little noise. Leaves rustled suddenly in a cool breeze. Was that it? No, there had been something before that. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The moon was half-size above him.

Something clicked in the darkness behind him. He twisted around. A figure sat on the other end of the rug, crouching over a box. Sora's eyes finally adjusted. "T-Tansei…?" The boy was poking through his bento box, seemingly unimpressed.

"You suck at cooking," he commented. "You should have asked Yanagi to make it for you. She's probably good at stuff like that. It's not like she's from a ninja family."

Sora untwisted himself to sit properly. He scowled. "What's your problem, Tansei? She's just as good as anyone from a ninja family – no, she's even better. Don't you dare insult her like that."

Tansei smirked. "If you really thought so you wouldn't be so close to Kita now. You wouldn't have done what you did." He stood up, towering over him.

Sora scrambled to his feet as well. The feeling he was getting… it was unnerving and confusing. "I didn't do anything. Kita's in my team, there's nothing wrong with being close to a team-mate."

The bento box fell to the ground, food spilling onto the grass messily. Tansei's hands were clenched tightly. "Don't lie. After I told you I was helping her, she tells me she's too busy for training with me. It was because you took over and told her to stop wasting her time on me."

"I never said anything like that," he replied. He clenched his own hands tightly for a moment. "I just… I just saw that she had a problem that couldn't be fixed by training hard. It was something completely different you couldn't have helped her with."

"I _was_ helping her!" The disgust on Tansei's face deepened. He stepped forward, foot crushing the side of the bento box now.

Sora stood his ground, refusing to step back to him. "You weren't helping her! All you did was ignore that she wasn't fine at all. You were just encouraging her to shut herself off from everyone else! Couldn't you see that?"

Tansei flinched at his voice. The startled look on his face vanished in a blink though, replaced by that look of hatred again. "You couldn't stand that I was the one helping her. You've always been jealous of what I've had. Like how I've always been the better ninja than you. It's why you tried to get lessons from my uncle as well, right?" He leapt back, pulling a shuriken from his leg holster. It zipped past Sora's ear, barely missing him.

This was bad… really bad. He hadn't meant any harm in all this, but he was right in what he said – Tansei hadn't been helping Kita in any way. But now, all this over what he'd done? Just for helping Kita and trying to be her friend? He hadn't meant for this… He didn't want a fight… He…

His breath hitched in his throat.

"Kita…?" His bloodline heightened, he saw her now, glowing pale white in the low moonlight. She stood between them, off to the side. She didn't say a word as she stared up at the night sky.

"I know you'll trying using your bloodline," commented Tansei smugly, unaware of the girl's ghostly presence. "You're too slow to keep up even if you could read my thoughts."

Sora's hand shook as he reached into his leg holster. He knew he'd have to defend himself. He stared into Tansei's eyes. They'd trained together many times before, but he'd never felt this scared before. Kita's gaze suddenly looked down from the sky. Sora's eyes flickered to meet hers. 

Twigs snapped. Sora looked back.

"Ki-Kita-chan…" Tansei stumbled back as the girl walked through the grass towards him. She came to stop before him, head slouched, hair messily covering her face. Her pyjamas were covered in dirt and tears, as though she'd run right through the forest without caring where she was going. Her feet were caked with mud. Tansei dropped the kunai he was holding.

Sora felt the kunai in his own hand start to tremble. His eyes flashed back and forth between the two Kita. What was the meaning of this? For her body to be walking like this…

"Kita-chan, what are you doing here?" Tansei's face was pale at the sight of her. She said nothing. Tansei grabbed her by the hand, putting his usual face of confidence on. "You shouldn't have followed me out here. If you want to talk we can do it tomorrow. You can apologise later."

Kita's hand slipped from his grip. Before he could blink, she had slapped him. Still she said nothing. Tansei held a hand to his reddened cheek, fury flooding his eyes. He raised a fist. After a moment he gulped and let his guard drop, arm limply going back to his side.

"I see…" he muttered, lowering his head. "You're betraying me too. Just like Hisae did."

The string between Sora and Tansei fizzed. Flashes entered Sora's mind, bits and pieces all jumbled up. They confused him.

_"Tansei! Tansei! The jutsu I've been practising! Under the waterfall, look! I'm really strong now! What do you think?"_

_"…You're stronger than me. Much… more… Why? It's not fair!"_

A scream snapped Sora to his senses. But it had only been in his head. Kita was standing where she had been before, although Tansei had vanished. Sora stepped towards her, head still slightly dizzy. It seemed like Kita was wavering in his vision until she fell forward onto the ground. He ran to her and rolled her onto her back. She wasn't breathing although her pulse was beating. Just like every other time… He searched around for Kita's ghost. It was behind him but not observing him, just looking up at the sky again.

He paused, wondering if trying to startle the spirit back into her body would be the best thing at the moment. After having dealt with this numerous times now, he decided against it. Kita would wake up without the foggiest idea anyway. And how would he explain what she was doing in the middle of the forest at night and that she'd slapped Tansei in the face? Although that was kinda cool, but it wasn't something to get her worried about at this moment right now. He grumbled to himself and picked the girl up. It was funny, like carrying a doll in how she seemed so light and frail. Those wrists of hers were so small…

But really, there was nothing funny about what he'd heard in his mind – from both Kita _and_ Tansei.

* * *

"They're late…" Kazuo glanced up at the tower clock. "Damn kids, I should buy them all alarm clocks for Christmas."

"Well _I'm _not late," snapped Yanagi. She pointed a bokken at him threateningly. He pushed it away before it poked him in the eye.

"For the first time," he muttered quietly, but not quietly enough for her to hear. He pushed the bokken away for a second time. "Stop that, why are you carrying that around?"

The girl rested it on her shoulder, trying to look aloof and confident. "I've decided this is going to be one of my weapons."

"Right… But wouldn't it better to carry an actual sword around instead of a bokken?"

She stared up at him as if he were an idiot. "Swords mean blood. I don't want to wreck my outfit. It's easier to swing one of these around anyway."

"You're a ninja, not a baseball player." Kazuo rubbed the bridge of his nose, praying that his team one day be blessed with common sense. His wishes from the day previous had been left unfulfilled. He had to take his plea to a higher authority this time.

The two of them stood around for some time, Kazuo glad for the silence Yanagi granted him. She meant well, but there was only so much he could take of someone talking about shoes. He only owned one pair of shoes anyway – his work sandals. Sure they smelt a bit ripe, but those sandals had gotten him out of enough tight spots now to be considered a lucky pair. In fact, he really didn't own much in the way of clothes at all. A ninja outfit could work in any situation, right? He'd been to enough fancy dinners wearing it. Nobody seemed to mind, although the female half of the guests seemed to avoid him. No wonder he had a hard time finding a date… He eyed Yanagi briefly wondering if the girl gave out fashion advice for the lost and confused.

"Senseeei!"

Kazuo looked up, distracted away from his thoughts. Kita and Sora rounded the corner running hard. They came to a halt before him. Sora doubled over and braced his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. Kita wiped the sweat from her brow, trying to look a little more composed. Kazuo glanced the girl over, noticing something.

"What happened to you?" he asked. The girl had bandaids all over her hands. The one on her nose did nothing to deter that stubborn chin of hers.

She crossed her arms, looking even more stubborn than before. "No idea," she replied curtly.

"I, uh, just found her like this when I went over this morning," explained Sora. He scratched the back of his head. Kazuo eyed him suspiciously. "She must have forgotten to take the beads off last night and accidentally went sleepwalking."

"I'm sure I took them off last night," grumbled Kita. She shot a suspicious look at Sora as well. The boy avoided their gazes.

Kazuo looked up at the sky as if roughly checking the time – although it was more to hide his urge to roll his eyes. "Fine, it doesn't matter what happened," he said finally. "You're all here now and we're late. You kids are getting me in more trouble than I should be in."

"From your _graaaandma_," teased Yanagi with a smirk. Kazuo rubbed the top of her head with a heavy palm, ruining her hair. She shrieked curses at him as he ran up the stairs.

He had missed doing that sort of thing to Minami…

* * *

**A/N:** Am I missing any info? Hope not… remind me if I did though!


	15. The Shrine

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Yo! Naruto has been a little boring lately in the manga, hasn't it? Well, a little at least. We still got to see Raikage and Gaara being pretty awesome. I kept wondering if the Raikage would turn into the Hulk! Hmm, anyway, this season's anime has been alright. There's a few cool new shows out, like Fairy Tail, and Nyan Koi, and Letter Bee, and Kobato. If you haven't looked at any of those yet, give them a go. I'm quite a big fan of Fairy Tail, so I'm super-glad it has an anime series now! Ah, I'm rambling… on with the chapter!

* * *

**_Chapter 15: The Shrine_**

Kita wiped her hands against the bottom of her jacket. They'd been able to wear gloves, but her hands still felt as though they were covered in slime. Yanagi was trying to pull her gumboots off without actually touching them. It looked like it was going to be quite a feat to accomplish.

"I did _not_ sign up to clean blocked drains!" she screeched as flecks of grime landed on her skirt.

Kita was almost inclined to agree with her. But work was work after all. Even if it didn't make much sense or you disagreed, sometimes you just had to do it anyway. "Getting dirty isn't bad if you think of it as a stepping stone, Yanagi," she said.

The girl frowned at her for a moment. "Yeah, well I'm still not happy." She eyed her. "You're a lot less grumpy than you were this morning."

She shrugged in return without a word. Perhaps it was just working like this that distracted her, but as soon as Yanagi had mentioned it the issue had come right back again.

Yanagi grunted as she squirmed out of her last gumboot. She kicked it off, trying to get it as far away from her as possible. She wiggled her toes in the fresh air. "But aren't you still wondering about how you got all those cuts?"

She shrugged again to Yanagi. "I was sleepwalking or something. I get pretty drowsy if I forget to take the beads off…"

She trailed off, but Yanagi seemed satisfied with the answer. She couldn't say now that she wasn't exactly confident in that statement though. It was true that when she woke up she found the beads still on her wrist and she could have possibly forgotten to taken them off – but there had been something that bothered her. It wasn't the cuts and ruined pyjamas. It was _where_ she'd woken up. Why her bedroom of all places? She still hadn't been able to bring herself from sleeping anywhere but the couch in the living room. Sora had appeared that morning too looking a bit more flustered than usual. Why visit her instead of Yanagi first thing in the morning? It was like he knew something was going on.

Kita pulled her boots and gloves back on. Yanagi stared at her.

"Where are you going? It's lunchbreak; you don't seriously want to go back down there, do you?"

"Sora hasn't come out yet," she replied, "he's probably gotten himself lost."

As she vanished down into the manhole, she heard Yanagi's voice echoing around her. "Don't take forever! There's no way I'm having lunch by myself!"

The sewers under the village were a sight few wished to behold. While the inner workings of the sewers were works of genius in their own right, they hardly held a candle to the magnificence of the training caverns on the outer limits of the village. Kita had to wonder if they really _were_ a work of genius though. Whoever designed them hadn't thought too much about the possibility of the drains clogging up so easily. But then, maybe whoever designed them did it purposely so that genin would have to go clean them. They were probably having a good laugh at them right now too.

The slime around her feet felt terrible. She slogged on through it determinedly. If there was one thing she was confident in was that Yanagi wouldn't follow her down here so easily. That allowed for a little privacy.

She found Sora down one of the side-tunnels, pulling large clumps of slime from a grate. He turned as he heard her coming towards him. She slammed a hand on the grate behind him, stopping him from escaping. "You should know that I sleep on the couch in the living room, not my bedroom," she muttered. "Next time you carry me back home and try to pretend nothing happened, try to get that detail right."

Sora's mouth tensed, seeming like he was going to deny it. She stared up at him determinedly. He sighed, but not in the usual exaggerated fashion he did when Yanagi was around. "Kita… I'm sorry."

She released her hand from the grate and tried to smile. "It's fine. Nothing bad happened, but I'd just rather know than not know."

"Really, I'm sorry," he repeated.

Kita crossed her arms. "You don't have to apologise twice, you know."

He lowered his head. Kita heard the rubber of his gloves squeak as his hands tightened into fists. "That's not it," he muttered. "Something else happened, something not good. You saved me, but we're still in a lot of trouble."

She glanced up at him again. The tone of his voice was worrying… no, it was scared. "What do you mean?" she asked.

* * *

She didn't tremble or say a word as he explained it to her. But then, maybe she might have if he'd told her the full story. He didn't tell her of his own suspicions, the ones that made him shiver inside instead. Somehow, when her ghost had looked at him, he could have sworn it was as though he heard the words 'you called for me?' echo in his head. Had he really called for her in some way? If he had, he didn't mean it, but it worried him greatly. The idea of commanding a friend like that pained him. But when Tansei had been saying those things to her, he had just wished so hard she would shut him up…

"Tansei," she muttered finally. "I didn't…"

"It's not your fault," he replied quietly. Even if they were underground he didn't want to hear his worries echoing off the walls.

She shook her head. "It's not your fault either."

"Someone like that," he sighed. He went to scratch his head, but snatched his hand back as he realised he still had he dirty gloves on. "I didn't know Tansei could really be like that. We've been friends for so long but I feel like I never really knew him at all."

He glanced down into her determined eyes. It was almost as though Kita and Tansei had been swapped around. Where once he called Kita "friend" without the sense of knowing her, it seemed that Tansei had grabbed that title from her. The look in Kita's eyes reminded him of those thoughts he had all those months ago – someone determined to be independent – nothing would get in her way. In a way, he didn't want to, which made his suspicions of the night before all the more disturbing.

"I think I'm starting to see what he thinks of me," she said.

"At first I thought it was because he liked you." Sora frowned to himself. "After those things he said last night though, about you and Yanagi-chan, it's not that way at all."

Her gloves squeaked again as her hands tightened. "He can't go around thinking I'm his personal property. I'm not some weak training doll he can test himself against – that's just all I was whenever he took me for training sessions. He said he'd teach me things, but all he ended up doing was showing off and trying to see if I could keep up." Her jaw clenched. Sora could see the anger rising in her eyes.

"Kita…" Sora felt a wave of goosebumps ride up his spine. "You did something that was out of his control and now he's afraid." His mother had told him enough times that people did certain things out of fear. It was fear that helped control people in interrogations and genjutsu. They all played on instinct and to predict what people would do in those fearful situations. What would Tansei do? Sora already had an idea. "We're going to have to keep watching our backs…"

"What about Yanagi?"

"I don't want her involved in this," he replied. "Don't tell her anything."

Kita's mouth twitched in a smirk. He knew what she was thinking, even without listening in. He didn't want Yanagi to share the burden although it wasn't right to keep the truth from her. He could tell her, of course he could, but where would that lead? Yanagi would accuse him of being selfish – tarnishing Tansei's name for the reason of trying to make himself look better – he knew she was stubborn in that way. He didn't care so much about that, as long as she was safe. If he brought her into this she might get hurt. They all might get hurt…

"So," Kita grumbled quickly, "what do you think?"

He frowned at her. "I don't want you involved either."

For the briefest of moments Sora could almost say he was afraid when he saw that angry look directed at him instead of the imaginary Tansei she'd badmouthed before. "Men…" she muttered. "Claiming to protect the women and children, but they never ask the women and children what _they_ think." He stared at her. Sometimes she came up with these weird sayings that just threw him off. She shook her head and the look in her eye lightened. "I'm already involved, there's no point protecting me. If you get in trouble, I'll make sure to be the one protecting you instead."

Sora reaffirmed the fact that he'd never quite understand females, especially the one in front of him. He couldn't help but grin at her. "Just make sure you let me protect myself a little first, okay? It might be embarrassing if you just leapt in straight away."

"Deal," she replied. She glanced back down the tunnel. "We should get going."

"Kazuo-sensei said he was able to get us a mission away for a few days. We'll be okay until we get back." He followed after her. He hadn't mentioned Hisae once throughout the conversation, but he didn't want to. Somehow, he'd figured out a little of what had happened between Hisae and Tansei and it scared him. He was no longer curious in the same way he had been before. But now that he was in this deep, would it be worth the risk to find out the entire truth? Even despite Kita's pledge, he still didn't want anyone to get hurt…

* * *

"Alright, kiddos, we're going to a nearby village to investigate some strange things going on at a shrine," said Kazuo as he read over the mission brief. "The priest in charge of the shrine says that when he wakes up each day things have been moved around. It's been going on for a few weeks now."

"I bet it's probably some stupid kids messing around," commented Yanagi. She watched the trail left in the dirt by her bokken as she dragged the tip along the ground. Her arms dangled lazily over the side of the vehicle. The four of them had caught a lift in a wagon heading in their direction. Empty as it was, the driver was glad to have them around as deterrents to robbers.

Kazuo rolled the scroll up and placed it in his jacket. "Maybe," he considered thoughtfully. "But if you were a rowdy kid, heaven forbid, what would you really do?"

"Most people would find it interesting for maybe a night or two," replied Kita. She tipped her head back to look at them from her place next to Yanagi. Her hands clung to the edge of the wagon as she let her legs hang over. She swung them in the dappled light shining through the treetops. "A normal group of kids wouldn't have the patience for moving things around for that long. They'd rather smash things right away."

Kazuo nodded at her. "Good thinking, Kita." She stared back blankly, unaffected by the praise. He glanced over at Sora. The boy was sleeping near the front of the wagon. No use asking for any answers from him when he was like that… He sighed irritably and turned back to the girls. "Odds are someone is playing ghost to scare people away, including the priest."

"Why would they do that?" Yanagi asked curiously.

"We'll have to ask the priest when we get there," he replied and laid back to watch the sky.

It was midday by the time they arrived. Kazuo thanked the driver as he went on his way. The kids were glancing around and taking in their new surroundings. The town wasn't of any particular size, big enough that it attracted traders and travellers. People nearby noticed them as they walked through the town. Kazuo glanced up at the mountain. They'd have to find the long set of stairs that led to the shrine. The place would be a strategic nightmare if they were forced to protect it, he was sure, with all those trees around and varying ground levels. Good if you were the hunter, not the hunted.

"Well," he said, getting his team's attention, "we'd better go find this priest."

Sora and Yanagi complained on the way up the stairs, at least until they were too out-of-puff to speak any longer. Kita took the stair-walk silently, but even he could see the look in her eyes that wished they were at the top already. He was used to long missions and days on the verge of fainting from chakra-loss. Regardless, he was cursing whoever the placement of the shrine. When they reached the top of the stairs, they couldn't help but give a sigh of relief. Kazuo turned back to see the view off the mountain. Most of his vision was obscured by trees but the gap created by the stairs was enough to let him see across the landscape. In the very far distance he could just make out the ridgeline that was home to their village. It was a clear day though. Any other day he wouldn't be able to make it out.

He turned back in time to see the priest emerge from the house near the shrine. He shuffled over, not exactly the oldest priest he'd ever seen, but he still bearing the wrinkles of age. "I'm so glad to see you, I was afraid my telegram would not reach you," he said with a respectful bow. Kazuo returned it, eyeing the children to do the same.

"Sensei, we've come to investigate on your request," he replied.

The priest held up a hand to interrupt him. "Yes, that is very well. However, first it would be best if you paid the shrine your respect first."

Kazuo glanced down at Kita for a moment. The girl was staring at the shrine intently, fixated upon it. He placed a hand on her head and gently pushed her into a bow again. "Kita, you know how shrines work, right?"

She nodded once. "I'm supposed to be in mourning." Kita looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. He knew what that look was though – she couldn't even remember who she was supposed to be mourning for.

"I will have to make apologies for my student, Sensei," he said to the priest. "She lost a family member not too long ago."

The priest nodded and bent down to Kita's level. The girl swapped her gaze to the older man. "Even if you cannot approach, it is respectful enough that you have come to support your fellow team-mates. When you are finished investigating, I will be inside making tea for you all."

Kazuo watched the old man shuffle back to his house. He hadn't been wasn't entirely sure, but when he had seen the priest straighten up, he was sure the old man had a worried expression on his face. "Kita, take a look around the perimeter and try to see if there is any evidence of people coming here from the forests." He paused for a moment, feeling guilt in his heart about the girl who couldn't remember her father's death. "I'm sorry you can't go near the shrine."

"Nothing to be sorry about," muttered the girl. She wandered off, her head trained on the edge of the forest. Kazuo sighed. Why couldn't that girl talk to him a bit more like she did with Sora or Yanagi? The cold shoulder had become more like a vast frozen wasteland he wasn't allowed to cross. Maybe she knew he was still in mourning himself. But he hadn't told anyone it was him that had continued to put lilies on Minami's grave.

He wandered towards the shrine where his two other students had already began their investigation. He glanced up at the sky. Did the ghosts of those past see what was still going on around them? Or did they just pass on to somewhere else? He didn't want to try and answer those questions himself – death was something beyond his comprehension. The only one who would know was Death itself.

"Found anything?" he asked. Sora and Yanagi looked back at him and shook their heads in unison.

"Nothing at first glance," replied Sora. He turned back, looking over the komainu he was standing by. The statue glared back menacingly with an open mouth.

Kazuo walked past him and up the stairs. He paused to take off his sandals. The last thing they needed to do was anger the priest. The inside of the shrine was relatively clean. This side of the mountain sheltered them from the winds that often blew down from the cold wastelands of the north. Those same winds would soon bring snow down upon the village. Kazuo looked around the shrine. It was somewhat larger than some of the shrines he'd visited before, but it felt lonelier, as though somehow forgotten even though there was no dust or stray leaves inside. He didn't even know what this shrine was enshrining in the first place. There were small trinkets on the walls, some others displayed on shelves. He hadn't seen things like this before in a shrine. Everything seemed like a mess though. He looked over the faded tags. A hair comb decorated with red fish was placed with a tag that was supposed to be for a necklace. Nothing was placed quite right either, as though someone threw them around rather than carefully arrange. But everything was accounted for as he and the children looked over the items and tags.

"Strange," he murmured.

"Do you think the priest did it?" asked Yanagi. "It doesn't seem like he gets a lot of people here. Maybe he wanted some company?"

"That could be a possibility, but by how he asked us to pay our respects first, I doubt he'd go messing around with these artefacts. We're back at square one – someone could be trying to scare the priest away. We'll see if Kita found anything and then go ask the priest for more information."

The girl shrugged when they found her. "Animal trails," she told them. Kazuo scratched his chin. They hadn't really found anything after all.

"Guess we'll go talk to the priest," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** Let's see… notes… they're mostly cultural notes, I guess.

When you address a priest in Japan, they're a 'sensei'.

Komainu are known as 'stone lions' or 'guardian lions' in English. They are placed as pairs to represent male and female guardians. They're very popular in Asia and can be found guarding anything from shrines to convenience stores.

Shrines usually observe a number of certain etiquettes apart from simply taking off your shoes. I think it's generally frowned upon to approach a shrine if you are sick or in mourning. There's also a few other things, but I can leave that up to you to discover!

Until next chapter, everyone!


	16. Lost in the Night

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Hey guys! Nice to see you all again in this new year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Did you get any good loot from Christmas? I can't wait to share more of this story with you, so let's get started!

* * *

**_Chapter 16: Lost in the Night_**

The house was warm inside. The smell of tea seemed to have become one with the house itself after so many decades of habitation. Kita couldn't help but feel herself become overwhelmed in this space – although she wasn't much one for tea herself, there was just something strange about the relaxing effect of it.

"This shrine was built in memoriam of Akane-hime three hundred years ago," explained the priest slowly. "Before the main countries of today were established, she was the princess of this land. The people thought very dearly of her, and celebrated when she was to be wed. However, as she was travelling in these mountains on her way to the ceremony, her convoy was attacked by bandits. Akane-hime was kidnapped and taken far up into the forest as the bandits tried to escape. Her guards went after them, hunting down every bandit as they searched for her, but alas, she was never found…"

"She vanished into thin air?" interrupted Yanagi with wide eyes. She sat forward eagerly with hands curled into fists on her lap.

The priest coughed, seemingly annoyed at the girl's abruptness. "Yes, she was never seen again. Which is why a shrine was built in her honour here along with all her possessions – it was commissioned by the man she was meant to marry. He was heartbroken by the news."

"How tragic…" murmured Yanagi as her bottom lip began to quiver. Kita glanced at her. How could anyone get so emotional over a story like that?

"The artefacts in this shrine could be considered national treasures then." Kazuo was frowning. Kita's concentration waned as he summed up what they had found in the shrine. The priest started to talk about the individual artefacts, with Yanagi listening intently as she asked questions about the jewellery and old clothing. Kita couldn't find much interest in it.

_'Bored, huh?' _Kita lowered her head slightly, not wanting her reactions to seem obvious as Sora's words trickled into her head. Kazuo always seemed annoyed when he found out they weren't paying attention. _'I wanted to talk to Yanagi-chan, but she's a lost cause at the moment.'_

_'Thanks for picking me as your second choice…' _she thought back at him. She kept her face blank, but she was sure Sora knew she was joking.

He was quiet for a while. She didn't know why – he _did_ know she was only joking, right? Or maybe he was messing up with his bloodline again. He was still learning after all. After a moment he glanced towards the door. It was getting dark. _'There's something strange here, I don't know what.' _She raised an eyebrow slightly in question. His tone had been serious though. _'Do you feel it? It feels kinda familiar…'_

With those words, she suddenly felt awake and aware. When she'd entered this place her mind had felt fuzzy and jumbled, like when it did when she'd kept the beads on for too long. But now…

_'Below us… right below us…' _Her gaze slowly drifted to the floor under the table. _'It's the same stain. The same sort like at home.' _

_'The priest said in his story they killed all the bandits. They must have killed some where they built here.' _

Kita continued to stare at the floor. There was one stain right underneath the house, many feet below them. No wonder she'd felt so strange. But unlike the stain in her house, this felt more like the ones in the graveyard in Iwa – unsettled. _'I don't like it here. It doesn't like us here.'_

Sora glanced down at the floor as well, following her gaze. _'I can't feel them as well as you, remember. I just know they're there. Why you can feel some sort of emotion is weird.' _

_'Or we can feel them at all…' _she muttered. They'd been over this before many times, but they never got closer to any answers. They just felt this certain thing and that was that. Surrounded by death like how they were now though, it was suffocating.

_'The sooner we get out of this place the better then, right?' _asked Sora. She caught the slight smile on his face telling her to relax. If only she could – there was something wrong with this place and it felt like it was closing in on her.

Fingers snapped in front of her face. Kita flinched, her attention coming back to the others. Kazuo frowned disapprovingly at her. "You won't get anywhere by not listening. I said we're going to hide out overnight and see if anyone comes along."

She nodded awkwardly at their teacher.

* * *

Sora shivered, the wind had picked up and he could feel tiny raindrops splatter on his face. It was around midnight at least by now. And here he was, hiding by the shrine on a cold, windy and wet mountainside. He didn't even have someone to sit next to him with everyone on their own assignments. He wished he could have been with Yanagi, warm inside the house keeping an eye on the priest, but he'd been the one to insist she take that job. Kita hadn't cared what assignment she was placed on. He got the feeling she didn't like being around that priest, instead taking up hiding in one of the trees up the mountain overlooking the grounds. Kazuo-sensei was hiding somewhere near the stairs, and doing a good job of it from what Sora could see in the current light, which wasn't much to be honest. All of them were out his range to read their thoughts. Clouds have covered up what little of the moon was left. Sora could only hope it wouldn't start to rain. It was a lonely enough situation as it was.

Hours passed by. Sora sat and shivered in the cold trying his best to keep a watch out for anything. On request of the priest, they'd helped him set everything back in their original place. It had helped them check more thoroughly for traps or contraptions. But again, nothing was out of the ordinary. The priest had assured that by morning they'd be surprised though.

Sora strained his ears over the noise of the rustling trees. The inside of the shrine sounded silent. He sighed to himself and settled back down. Boring…

The sun broke through the clouds, weak and lukewarm. The long night was finally over. Nothing had happened. Footsteps came towards him, feet scraping on the gritty dirt. Sora stretched as Kazuo peeked around the corner.

"Night go alright, kiddo?" he asked. Unlike him, his teacher seemed just as fresh and awake as the day before. Sora felt a mess. He nodded anyway despite it. Kazuo sighed. "Well, you'll want to see this then." Sora raised an eyebrow and stood up a groan before following him to the doorway.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" he asked. "Nothing's moved."

"Exactly," replied Kazuo. Sora looked the inside of the shrine up and down again. There really wasn't anything wrong at all, not even the wrinkles in the kimono on the wall had changed. His teacher rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't exactly expecting this."

"Maybe they saw us come here yesterday and we scared them off?" suggested Sora.

Kazuo turned back to survey the grounds. "It might have been the village kids after all…" He glanced back as he saw the priest emerge from his house with Yanagi in tow behind him. She shrugged her shoulders at them from afar, indicating nothing peculiar from her watch either. She looked in better shape than he did from being inside all night, but she still had dark circles under her eyes.

"This is… peculiar." The priest stopped at the steps of the shrine. Sora watched the confused frown overcome his face. "Every day for the past few weeks, and this passing night it ceases. Even when I tried my own night watches I would still find everything changed around."

"Sensei, I'm afraid without any solid evidence there isn't anything we can do," explained Kazuo apologetically.

It took a moment for the priest to nod. Sora felt pity well up in his heart, in those few seconds he'd suddenly seen a dejected old man wishing for some sort of answer. "I understand," he replied quietly. "You are shinobi, not detectives. I shall try to ask some of the townsfolk if they will help me find who is behind this."

_'I feel sorry for him,'_ Sora thought to Yanagi.

_'Yeah,'_ she replied. _'He was telling me all night about how he had done his own stakeouts. I thought maybe he'd just fallen asleep on the job, but he stayed up all night with me. He said he thought it was kids at first too, but the more he watched, the less likely it seemed. Maybe it really is a ghost?'_

_'Nah… no way,'_ he said back, perhaps a bit too quickly.

She frowned at him. _'Ghosts are real though.'_

_'But nobody has ever really seen one.' _But… he'd seen Kita's 'ghost' enough times. No, that was a little different. _'Besides, this is a _shrine_ we're talking about. It's protected against ghosts and demons and all that other stuff.'_

Yanagi's frown deepened. He hated when she did that to him.

"Well, kiddos, I guess this is out of our hands now," said Kazuo awkwardly. His gaze travelled up the mountain. "Kita must have fallen asleep or gotten stuck… You guys go get our things ready, I'll be right back."

Sora stretched again. Finally, they were going to get out of here.

* * *

She could see light sparkle in through the fibres that rubbed roughly against her skin. It must have been sunrise by now, it was hard to tell with a blindfold over her eyes though. She'd been stupid, so stupid to let them take her by surprise like that – a fine mess she'd gotten herself into now.

Ropes groaned as she fought against them. They were irritatingly tight.

"Stop fidgeting," ordered a low voice. A boot landed on her back, forcing her onto her stomach on the cold ground. "Stay quiet and I won't throw you over a cliff."

That little voice in the back of her head told her to be patient – it'd only be a matter of time before everyone realised she was missing and they'd come looking – just save your strength for the moment.

She stopped struggling.

"Be a good girl," muttered the voice again.

Kita put her head against the ground to rest the best she could despite the beads preventing her. She was tired, so tired, but she didn't want to close her eyes. She had to keep looking at those small glimmers of light, not even blink. They were the only thing that told her she wasn't going back to the darkness. Of all the things in the world, that feeling was the one that scared her most. More than the things about herself she couldn't explain, more than even dropping unconscious at any time – living, being awake, and only being able to see darkness was her worst nightmare.

Pitiful, the little voice told her.

* * *

Sora winced as twigs scraped against his legs. An hour and still they hadn't found her… Sora's head ached as he pushed his bloodline to the limit. His range might not have been very wide, but he had to do everything he could to help. What if something had happened like she fell down somewhere, or gotten trapped in a hidden cave? Sora shook his head; he was letting his imagination run wild now.

"Any signs?" Kazuo appeared on the branch above him, scouting from above.

"Nothing," he replied. He could hear Kazuo cursing himself in his mind. "Sensei…"

Kazuo forced a grim smile. "Shouldn't be using language like that in front of my students. Your mother would kill me for teaching you words like that."

Sora forced a shaky smile back, trying to reassure him. Although he was right about what his mother would do…

The smile left his teacher, the man glanced up the mountain again. "If Kita's mother were still alive, she'd probably kill me too. I promised her I'd do all I could for her daughter. Sora, meet up with Yanagi back down at the shrine in an hour if you haven't found her." He leapt away through the treetops, eyes scanning the forest.

Sora watched after him. It was different to hear Kazuo say that out loud for once. For a while he'd heard occasional snippets in the man's mind thinking about Kita's father and a woman called Minami. He'd never said anything to his students, but Sora was sure he missed them very much. He turned back to his search – he'd also made something of a promise to his team-mates. They wouldn't fail, no matter what.

But after that hour he still hadn't found Kita. It was like she had vanished. Yanagi grabbed onto his sleeve tightly. She was just as anxious as he was.

"Sora, I'm worried," she whispered.

He wished he could have done some dramatic holding of her hand and reassuring her everything was alright… But now wasn't the time. His head was still throbbing. Kazuo landed nearby, a deep frown on his face. A tattered rag was in his hand. He held it out for them to see.

"Kita didn't have anything of that colour on," said Yanagi. "It looks like it hasn't been in the forest very long though, it's still clean."

"I found it in the same area Kita was stationed at," Kazuo told them. His eyes narrowed. "Maybe someone is after the shrine artefacts after all…"

Sora frowned as well. Something still didn't add up if it was all part of the same situation of trying to scare the priest off by moving things around. Why not take them while they were at it? Why do this if it was only going to attract investigators? He looked up at the man. "I don't think they're related directly."

He nodded at him. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Now's not the time to wonder about all this stuff!" interrupted Yanagi angrily. "We need to find Kita!"

Kazuo held up a hand suddenly. Sora glanced towards the forest – there was someone coming their way. As they drew nearer, he knew it wasn't Kita. Instinctually, they all placed their hands on their leg pouches ready to pull out kunai if needed. A man struggled through the undergrowth, a little worse for wear and with a radio in his hand. He paused as he spotted them, raising the radio to his mouth.

"Found 'em," he said. Over the static, another voice confirmed. The man placed the radio in his pocket and walked towards them. The group tensed, unsure what was going on. "Hey, ease up now. Shooting the messenger wouldn't do you very well now, would it?" he asked them, smiling a little too widely and showing them his empty hands. It wasn't long until his much-too friendly smile dissolved into a sneer though.

"What is it?" Kazuo asked gruffly. It was obvious he wasn't in the mood for this guy's smug attitude.

The man glanced away, unimpressed with Kazuo's attempt to be intimidating. "I'm here to issue a couple 'requirements', that's all. If you break any of them… well, I think that part is obvious."

"Where is my student?" Kazuo demanded. "Tell me!"

The radio in the man's pocket buzzed with static. He sighed and picked it up. "I'm explaining it to 'em now, boss. They realise what's at stake here." He glanced at the trio, mouth curling in a smirk as he put the radio back. "Right, where was I? Our requirements are this – we'll give you the girl… but only in exchange for the artefacts. Do this and we'll drop the girl off in a nice, safe place you can get to later. However, do anything to jeopardise this and you'll never see her again. We will have radio communication operating during the loading – if any of us fail to report in, we _will_ assume the worst and take action. You have until sundown to get rid of your weapons. If we find any on you when we get here… you won't like what happens then."

With that, the man slinked away into the forest again. Kazuo's hands were trembling. Sora glared into place the man had vanished. _'I'm not losing her too,'_ he heard echoing from Kazuo's mind.

"Kazuo-sensei…" Yanagi glanced up at their teacher with eyes wide.

"For people like them to notice we were here," he growled with anger. "They're too organised for us to fight against, especially in our situation."

"We should go get help from Iwa," said Yanagi. She grabbed onto his sleeve searching for some sort of hope.

He shook his head. "There's no time, and they're watching us from all over the mountain probably. We have no choice, we have to let them take the artefacts. Yanagi, go tell the priest what happened, but also tell him that once we get our team-mate back, we'll make sure Iwagakure hunts them down again." Kazuo recomposed himself. Now wasn't the time to panic. Sora secretly encouraged the small smile that appeared on his teacher's face to reassure them both. "We'll get Kita back, I swear on it."

* * *

**A/N:** Not much to note, I don't think. Just a name. And thanks Clark for all your hard work being my beta!

* Akane – Red


	17. A Woman's Revenge

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **With apologies to Clark, since I haven't heard from you in a while.

* * *

_**Chapter 17: A Woman's Revenge**_

Sora thought over and over. This was ironic, if not terrible – just as they were about to leave they get given the news bandits were telling them not to interfere, and they'd kidnapped Kita to make sure of it. But that was what had happened, and now they had to cope with it. He worried though. How were they treating Kita? She probably still had the beads on. They'd be exhausting her by keeping her awake – making her waste chakra to stay awake. He still wasn't entirely sure of the thing he'd created, but one day he'd work everything out.

What stressed him out the most though was the notion of Kita tied up in the dark somewhere by herself. She wasn't someone who could be left alone, he'd decided that long ago. He just wanted to see her smile, to see everyone smile.

And after this, he knew they would all need something to smile over.

The forest began to rustle. The sun was a slither on the horizon. Kazuo put his hands on his student's shoulders, keeping them close. The fabric of his gloves squeaked as he gripped them tightly.

"Just do what they say – for Kita's sake, okay?" he whispered to them. They nodded. "We have to do all we can to make sure she stays safe."

They threw their kunai and shuriken onto the ground as the bandits circled them, checking them for other concealed weapons. They bound their hands with rope. All satisfied, the man from before smiled at them. "All clear," he spoke into the radio. A voice crackled back from it. "Okay, we'll get the priest to help pack up the artefacts and tell us more info on them." He signalled to some men near the priest's house. They pulled him out, prodding the older man to hurry up. Sorrow was written on his face.

Sora was startled as Yanagi stepped forward. "Let me go help him," she pleaded. "He's frail, he won't be much use if you don't treat him better."

The bandit muttered something into the radio. It crackled back with static. "If you want to split up, that's fine with us." He motioned his head for her to go to the priest. She ran to him.

Sora stared after her, trying to hear what she was up to, but all he was met with was silence. …Nothing. He felt tired, was his bloodline working properly?

'_Can you hear me, Sora?' _

He glanced across at his teacher. Kazuo had his eyes trained on the shrine, making sure Yanagi was alright. _'Yes,'_ Sora replied. _'But I'm having a hard time hearing anyone more than a few feet from me… I'm tired.'_

'_I know, but hang in there. All we have to do is be patient.' _

'_What if something goes wrong?'_

'_I don't want to think that way. I'd rather it go smoothly than risk Kita being hurt, even if we have to help them more than we want to.' _

Sora glanced at the sky. It was getting darker now and the sun was definitely gone from the horizon. He tried again to listen to the thoughts of the radio-holding man, hoping maybe he'd hear a clue about Kita's whereabouts, but still he only found soft whispers and all about money at that. Surely there had to be better ways to satisfy greed than intimidating and hurting people? He couldn't understand why people acted like this at all.

He waited as the minutes ticked by, hoping everything was okay.

But a shiver ran down his spine. Something felt off suddenly. The sound of people yelling pierced through the air. He looked towards the shrine.

A baby carriage floated out into the night air.

Sora felt his jaw go slack.

"Cursed!" yelled someone running from the shrine. "We've been cursed!"

"What the hell…" muttered the radio-man. He ducked as a dress swooped down on him from above. He ran for cover. "Something's happened!" he yelled into the radio.

People began to scatter as objects flew through the air – jewellery, clothing, rocking horses – it was an air raid upon the bandits. The priest stumbled down the shrine steps, staring wide-eyed up into the building. A kimono descended the stairs slowly, one sleeve pointed out into the air.

No… No, it wasn't just a kimono…

"Y-Yanagi-chan…" Sora stuttered. The girl arched her neck elegantly from within the oversized kimono, looking down her nose at the bandits scattered around.

"The impure are forbidden from touching my possessions," she exclaimed. "All who touch them will be cursed in my name! In the name of Princess Akane!"

Sora felt the ropes slip from his wrists. Kazuo glanced at him before going after the man with the radio. He remembered – do everything you can to make sure Kita wasn't hurt. His gaze shifted between the radio and Yanagi. He didn't know what was going on, everything was chaos. The baby carriage breezed over his head. Kazuo had gone into the forest, but Yanagi was doing… he didn't know. Without any weapons, he ran towards the shrine. He hoped, pleaded in his head, that Kita would be fine, and wished she was here.

* * *

The sun had set. It felt like she couldn't tell if her eyes were open or not any longer. The fear was starting to overwhelm her.

Patience… Patience… the voice continued to echo in her head.

Screw patience. She couldn't stand this. Something was desperately telling her to get out of here, a feeling that drove her to want to draw closer to it. It made her hungry, although her stomach didn't growl. She had to get to it, no matter the way.

"He…Hey," she said to the world she couldn't see.

She heard feet shuffling impatiently. They came closer to her. Boots squeaked as she was sure the person leant down. "I told you to stay quiet," threatened the voice. "You don't have to pee do you?"

"No," she replied indignantly. "I want you to do something else. On my wrist there's a bracelet. Take it off, it's itchy. I'll be quiet again if you do it."

She felt a knee on her back and rough fingers scratch her wrists. "Heh, cheap crap…" muttered the voice. "Might be able to trade a meal out of it though…" His voice trailed off for a moment as a radio began to buzz with static. A voice crackled through…

She didn't hear what the voice said. She was already gone by then.

* * *

Sora ran towards the shrine. Yanagi stared ahead with a wicked smile on her lips. He ducked as a heavy-looking necklace swooped down. It hit a bandit behind him, knocking him to the ground. Sora slid to a stop near the priest. The old man was shaking.

"Quick, get back to the house," he told him, helping the man to his feet. "You'll be safer there."

"Akane-sama was here all along," muttered the priest. "I was right… I was right." He stumbled back towards the house as swiftly as his legs could take him, the artefacts barely missing him.

Sora turned back to the shrine. This wasn't some sort of trick, was it? It couldn't be… he'd know. And Yanagi would have informed them if she had set this up, let alone _how_ you could get things to fly through the air like this. He stretched out his bloodline to her, adrenaline keeping him awake now. Still he heard nothing from her.

Just like how it used to be with Kita.

He couldn't see their teacher anywhere now, people were running from the shrine and trying to flee into the forests. He turned back. Yanagi hadn't noticed him at all. He called her name and she didn't respond.

"Akane-sama," he said desperately.

She paused and glanced down at him, the expressions he was used to weren't there on her face. "What is it, boy?" she asked. "You're not with these filthy vermin, are you?" Her eyes travelled to the Iwa headband wrapped around his leg. "No… you're not. Good. Protect your princess then, and get rid of these betrayers, I order you."

He stood there, unsure.

She glared at him. "Who would think shinobi would have become so weak since I was alive. Shall I have to protect myself? Or perhaps I could kill this girl and move to another body in punishment of your insubordination?"

That snapped him out of it. "What the hell are you?" he demanded. "Don't you dare harm Yanagi-chan!"

"Amusing…" she muttered to herself more than him. "I never thought I'd be able to get to a point like this – so much freedom after being stuck in that hole."

Sora gritted his teeth, hating being ignored like that. "Tell me what you are!" he yelled. "What happened to Yanagi-chan?"

She ignored him again, lifting her arm into the air. More items flew out of the shrine, things that made Sora worry as the gold plating on the ornamental dagger glinted. Sharp hairpins joined it, looking menacing instead of decorative.

"What I am," replied the person that was no longer Yanagi, "is vengeance." She stepped down from shrine with the long kimono trailing behind her. The weapons whirled above her like a deadly halo.

Sora didn't want to remember what he saw after that. The bandits that hadn't already fled into the forest and the ones who thought they were strong enough to fight off the flying objects had no chance.

"Filthy, disgusting! Men like you are the reason I died!"

He almost called out to warn her of the bandit about to leap on her from behind. Instead he had to choke back the bile rising in his throat as a hairpin noisily pulled itself out from the man's eyeball. Another stumbled as the dagger slashed his forehead open. Blood poured onto the ground.

"Save me, please…" croaked the bandit. His eyes glazed over as his voice faded.

He felt useless – completely out of his league – even more so than when he'd been face-to-face with Tansei. But he still wasn't sure what was going on, even with the bodies piling up around him. It had all seemed to have happened in a heartbeat. Yanagi… he had to try and help Yanagi… He pushed his bloodline to the limit, white strings wavering between the connections. Yanagi's mind still was unreachable though. Strings around him fizzled into the air as he knew people were dying. Had Kazuo reached the man with the radio? Kita had to be alright. He had to hope.

Something translucent white appeared before him. He glanced up from where he knelt on the ground, and relief suddenly washed over him.

"Kita," he whispered gladly, partly in shock and relief. The girl ignored him and vanished, flickering like a bad television set as she made her way towards Yanagi.

The other girl paused, turning towards the shrine as Kita's ghost confronted her.

'_Onryo,_' muttered Kita.

"I already figured that out for myself," she replied with a small smile as her eyes travelled up and down. "What business does a lowly ikiryo have with someone such as me though? Wait… no, you're not an ikiryo, are you?" She paused again, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. The expression slowly melted away – into some fuzzy kind of recognition. "You're the same feeling… when I awoke…"

Kita held a hand up, drawing closer to the girl. _'Onryo_.'

"Get away from me!" she screeched suddenly. Dagger and hairpins went flying, all passing through Kita's ghostly form. Kita's hand enclosed on her as she tripped over the kimono – the weapons dropped to the ground. Wood splintered and dust was hurled up as everything dropped.

Kita held up her prize by the throat. Sora could see it now, a woman he'd seen several times in the past day or so. He recognised her from the portraits in the shrine – it truly was Princess Akane. Her wild hair drifted like she was suspended in water, thrashing this way and that as she fought Kita's grip. A white string connected her to Yanagi's body. Kita pulled further on the woman, dragging her out completely. But something else followed behind.

'_Kita! Stop!'_ Sora lunged at her, yelling through his bloodline. He passed through them both, foolish but he felt he had to act because behind the string, wrapped up around the neck, he could see Yanagi's pale form of a soul. She struggled against the string, hands scratching at her neck. Kita paused, hearing him for once. _'She's got Yanagi. If you pull her out, you'll pull Yanagi out too! Cut the string!' _

She stared at him blankly, but for a moment he swore he saw some kind of recognition there. Dropping the struggling woman, she placed both hands around the length of string and pulled hard. It snapped cleanly. Kita dropped Yanagi's end whilst holding onto the other. The strings around Yanagi's neck vanished, as did her ghost as it sunk back into her body. She stirred, opening her eyes blearily. Sora fell onto his knees and scooped her up in a hug.

"Stop that!" Yanagi exclaimed, pushing him away. "What are you doing?" She looked around, eyes sweeping over the scene around her. "What… happened?"

She didn't remember. He figured as much. It's what happened with Kita all the time. He glanced around, Kita was standing nearby, but the other ghost – the 'onryo' or whatever – had vanished. He stared up at Kita's ghost in confusion, but she offered no answers. Somehow, he felt safe though. That thing was no longer coming back.

Yanagi struggled her way out of the oversized kimono, using Sora as a brace as she got to her feet. Something burst through the undergrowth from the other side of the shrine – it was Kazuo. The man looked paler than Sora had ever seen. He threw the already-broken radio onto the ground and collapsed to his knees. It was silent. "Kazuo-sensei!" Yanagi called across to him. He glanced up, his face between despair and rage. Yanagi pulled Sora to help her make the walk to him.

"She's gone. They took her, they heard on the radio what happened," he muttered. Kazuo rose to his feet and stared down at them. Sora could see the fury reeling in the man's eyes. More terrible than any sort of anger he'd seen before… and it was directed at them. Yanagi's hands tightened her grip around his arm feeling the same anger he did from the man. "Tell me what you did," he demanded, "What you did that got Kita taken away…"

"I-it wasn't our fault! Something strange happened!" retorted Sora. This feeling from their teacher, it wasn't right, not right now, not when Kita was still alive. "Don't take it out on us! Kita's alright, I know she is, because she was the one who helped us and she's here right now."

The anger on the man's face faded. His eyes darted around for a moment before realisation dawned. "Tell me how we find her, Sora." He paused. "Please," he added exasperatedly.

Sora glanced across to Kita's ghost, still standing where she had been before. _'Kita, lead us to you, okay_?'

She flickered again like a bad television set, appearing next to him for the briefest of moments before flickering towards the forest.

"Quick," he said, letting Yanagi down so she could sit. "Yanagi-chan, we'll be back soon."

"You better get Kita or else," she threatened. "I'm not going shopping by myself!"

Sora tried to stay serious, but how could he after hearing Yanagi say that, let alone the fact they were following some strange apparition towards an unknown destination? His heart was bursting with hope. He could hear Kazuo behind him and was sure he felt the same thing. Maybe somewhere deep inside himself, Sora had been troubled by the man's outburst at them – he knew compared to Kita he and Yanagi weren't on the same level – but it didn't matter. Kita was one of Kazuo's precious people for reasons beyond their control. In the years to come they'd all become closer though, he was sure of that.

"There," Kazuo whispered to him after a while. "Look." They had almost rounded the mountain by now, climbing higher than they had before. Sora looked down. They were above a steep valley now.

Below was a path. Sora clenched his fists as he spotted a man running along it, a light-haired girl slung over his back. Kita's ghost vanished from the tree branches ahead of him, flickering to follow behind the man instead. Sora glanced back at Kazuo, motioning he would drop back to cut him off while Kazuo confronted him first. There was no escape for the man below.

"Stop there!" ordered Kazuo. He dropped through the trees onto the path below. The man skidded to a halt, pebbles rolled in his wake down into the valley.

"You…!" exclaimed the man. His jaw gaped as he became lost for words. He found motions instead though, grabbing Kita off his back with one hand and pulling a knife out with the other. He held it to the girl's neck. "Let me go," he demanded.

Kazuo's face was dark with rage, but he forced himself to look calm. "I guarantee you'll be letting her go very soon," he replied. "Or else you'll be _seeing_ a very different side of me. And you won't want that."

Seeing… that was the signal Sora was listening for. He released the genjutsu he'd been building up. It wasn't a very good one, but all it had to be was enough. The man wobbled on his feet for a moment. Sora's heart skipped a beat as he edged closer to the cliff.

And then everything seemed to slow down… The bandit closed both hands around the handle of the knife, seeing something that neither Sora nor Kazuo could properly imagine, but his eyes told that he was terrified. His arm began to loosen around Kita's form.

Kazuo went for his headband, pulling out a length of paper hidden underneath that flapped in the wind as it drew out longer and longer. Smoke poured from the paper, a knife emerging from it. In one fluid movement Kazuo slung it at the man charging towards him. It caught him in the shoulder and he tripped… tripped over the edge.

"_KITA!_" Sora screamed at the top of his lungs and mind as the girl toppled as well.

Kita's eyes opened slowly, her bounded hands reaching up into the night air. Her hair fluttered in the breeze as she began to plummet. Kazuo lunged, his fingers barely catching themselves in the mass of ropes. He latched on to what he could and heaved. They fell backwards onto the rock shelf. She landed on his chest as the man quickly wrapped his arms around her.

She was safe.

* * *

**A/N: **

'Onryo' are the spirits of people who are able to stay in the physical world in order to seek revenge. They could almost be thought of as poltergeists. If you watch many Japanese horror movies (or their American remakes), the ghosts from 'The Ring' and 'The Grudge' are two such examples of Onryo. **  
**


	18. Suspicion, Discontent and Strife

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **I forgot to mention in the last chapter that an _ikiryo _is the manifestation of a living person's soul outside their body.

* * *

**_Chapter 18: Suspicion, Discontent and Strife_**

Kita rubbed her wrists after Sora removed the ropes for her. "Yanagi-chan and I will buy you a new bracelet when we get back," he promised. She nodded. Sora glanced at her strangely – she didn't seem to be in a talkative mood.

Kazuo gazed towards the cliff, the anger on his face slowly melting into disappointment. "That knife was a present… But it was the right one to use." He sighed. "Alright, kiddos, let's get back," he announced, his mood finally lightened. Kita rejected his attempt to carry her.

"I'd rather walk back myself," she told him.

Kazuo gave a crooked smile, unsure how to react. "After being carried around all day, I guess that's the last thing you'd want, huh?" He sighed and placed a hand on her head. "Sora, take care of her – I'll go ahead and get things… cleaned up. I'll have to get the villagers to lend a hand, if they didn't already hear the commotion."

"Okay," he confirmed. The man leapt off into the darkness. He reached out to take Kita's hand. "I'll pretend to be the bracelet," he said as he grasped her.

She knocked his hand away. "I'm fine, alright?" She started walking without him.

He strode quickly to catch up with her. Those words were the ones he hated the most to hear from her, the words that always confirmed to him that he couldn't leave her alone. "Tell me what's wrong," he demanded as he grabbed the back of her shirt.

She kept walking forward, dragging him along with her. "I got captured, I had to be rescued. It's humiliating. I don't want you to hold my hand, and I don't want Kazuo-sensei babying me."

Sora pulled hard against her, causing her to stumble backwards. She turned around, furious with him. It wasn't how he usually acted, but he had to match her stubbornness for once, he knew it. "You saved yourself," he told her sternly. "You took the beads off and you came and saved me and Yanagi-chan. After that, you were the one that lead us to where you were. If you hadn't we'd never have been able to find you."

Disbelief… that was her expression, he expected it to be.

"Kita, what's an _onryo_?"

It took a few moments before she answered, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "It's a sort of ghost…" she said slowly. "If someone dies with a lot of emotion, they stay so they can have some sort of vengeance." She looked as though she wasn't sure how she had come to that answer.

"Well, whatever it was," Sora replied, "it was nasty and you saved us from it. I'll try and tell you more later, I'm still not entirely sure myself." He hid his sigh of relief, feeling her temper had finally subsided. "Are you sure you're alright? You had the beads on for a long time. You might fall."

She frowned, and for a moment he wondered if he'd said the wrong thing, or skipped to that question too quickly. "It's okay. I feel wide awake."

"Are you sure?" he pressed the question on her.

She turned away from him, shoulders growing stiff. "I… I was scared being tied up… and useless in the dark like that. I don't want to go back to that. Just let me walk by myself, please."

Her voice had wavered speaking about being useless in the dark. Sora watched her start walking without him. Maybe he'd only imagined it, but she sounded more like she had been terrified. It was almost strange to think she feared something like that at all. Considering how she dropped unconscious at the drop of a hat sometimes, was the idea of staying awake while her body did something like that frightening to her?

He jogged to catch up. The moon shed a pale light, just enough to tell if there were obstacles in their way. Kita pushed a branch out of the way so he could pass. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, his chakra was too low to want for a try. It would be nice if she had changed her mind on the view she had been helpless though.

"About what happened…" she said suddenly after they cleared a large branch on the path. He glanced at her curiously. She shook her head. "So it was an actual ghost all along? It's just… strange."

"How so?" he implored.

"Akane only chose to awake now after all those years. Just… strange," she muttered. Sora considered it – it was definitely plausi… wait. He almost stumbled over, bumping into Kita's back. She turned to help him steady himself and gave a sly smile. "And you worry about _me _falling."

He'd only ever mentioned an _onryo_ – nothing more than what had happened – and not once who he thought that ghost was.

* * *

There were a lot of sheets on the ground by the time they reached the shrine area again. Kita walked through them carefully, eyes flickering from one to another. Every one of them had those dark stains hidden inside them, but truly they were all empty shells now. She was too late.

Late for what though? She didn't know. Tonight had just given her one hell of a headache and a rush that didn't feel like ending anytime soon. She sidestepped as pair of people bearing a stretcher walked past. An arm hung out, flailing limply as the stretcher bounced with the steps. She'd never seen anything like this yet it didn't seem to bother her. Sora and Yanagi though… Sora had stopped talking the moment the breeze had washed a bloody stink over them.

When they saw Kazuo he waved for them to go wait in the priest's house. Sora went immediately to Yanagi as they entered the house and shut the door firmly behind them. He sat down beside her, looking pale in the light. They both looked pale.

"Kita…" Yanagi patted the floor to the other side of her. A little confused by the motion, but she joined them anyway. Yanagi wrapped her arms around her as best she could. "I'm glad," she muttered. "We can go shopping again now."

Kita glanced up at the lone light bulb hanging overhead for a moment before noticing Yanagi had gone quiet, completely unlike her. She'd fallen asleep. Kita reached her hand up, hesitating for a moment before ruffling the girl's hair like Kazuo did to her. Sora had fallen asleep too, she wasn't surprised. She almost wished she could join them, but she couldn't help but keep staring up at the ceiling. Before she had realised it she had started humming that strange tune again.

"I haven't heard that melody since I was young." She hadn't noticed the old man standing in the doorframe that whole time. He hobbled towards the table with a tray and teacups. Somehow he seemed different from the priest they'd met the day before, less uptight. The day had been a long one after all, she guessed.

She stopped humming. "You know it?" she asked.

He nodded, pouring tea gently into a cup and handing it to her. "I didn't think they still played that funeral song any more, it upset too many people in the past."

The tea felt good against her cold throat. "A funeral song…" she muttered to herself.

"I would say it was inappropriate, but," he paused, head nodding towards the closed door, "seeing the death of anyone, even those who lived their lives doing wrong, it is a terrible thing. I take it you were informed of what happened?" Kita shrugged slightly. The old man sighed. "I almost thought it was one of your ninja tricks, until the princess used your friend to speak to me. 'You were one of the few that didn't abandon me', she told me. 'Men aren't usually so kind'. I believe Akane-sama saved us tonight, by sparing our lives."

Kita placed her teacup down roughly. "What did she mean by that?" she asked.

He seemed to take a while to work up to it, considering his words carefully as he said them. "The previous priest that lived here said he often had strange dreams given to him by Akane-sama," he explained slowly. "It seemed to fit the rumours surrounding her death at the time. The man she was to marry was an exceptionally cruel man, despite his reputation to the public as being kind and gentle. Discovering this, she was the one to arrange the attack and give herself a chance to escape. The previous priest often told me in his dream the bandits hid her in a cave and rolled a stone across, promising to fetch her later. However, they never came, and she was trapped – a terrible fate." The priest sighed once more. "I have to question the truth of it, even with the events of this night."

"She died a woman who raged against the men who abandoned her, becoming an _onryo_," Kita said quietly, gazing at the floor from behind lowered eyelashes. "The reason the previous priest had those dreams is because the place Akane died is right under this house where the cave leads – but her spirit doesn't reside there any more, she no longer exists now."

A teacup fell over, trickles of the liquid dripped onto the floor. The priest's hand had begun shaking so badly he'd dropped it. "How… how do you know that?" he demanded in a stutter. "What are you?"

She couldn't answer him. She didn't know.

* * *

It was a mission he could place on his list of 'things I wished hadn't happened', and he could hardly begin to list what had gone wrong – one of his students had been kidnapped, and the other two had almost succumbed to chakra exhaustion. It also didn't help he got a stern talking to off his own _grandmother_ about the state of his students when he'd handed in his mission report.

A few days later and Kazuo watched the clouds pass by from one of the many balconies curving around the Tsuchikage Tower. The breeze was chilling, but he wasn't in the mood to care about the weather. He turned, shoulder violently ramming into something as he did. Before he could take in what happened, he was on the ground clutching his stomach. The woman standing over him clenched her fist tightly, dark purple hair a mess around her face and growing messier as the breeze blew up into a wild gust.

"Oh my, sorry about that, senpai, it's a force of habit" she said, although she her tone was only half as sincere as he wished it had sounded. She offered a hand to him, but he didn't take it, instead choosing to use the railing. The woman folded her arms and stared darkly at him.

Kazuo grumbled to himself as finally felt the pain subside. "And you are…?" he asked flatly.

Her frown furrowed further, irritated by his lack of familiarity. "Nana… I'm Nana Amakara. You sure you don't know me?"

"I'm sure I don't," he replied, even more flatly than before. The last thing he wanted today was to have to deal with someone like this. "Did you have a reason for coming to me?"

She sighed, giving up on trying to jog whatever memory he was supposed to have of her. Her expression still showed annoyance despite her tone though. "Since you were the initial team on the mission, I thought it best to report to you on the check-ups. The priest in residence there passed away yesterday. We found him under the house with a shovel in his hand. It looks like he died of a heart attack caused by the strain of digging."

Kazuo held onto the railing for support as the words sunk in. "He… Did you check under the house?" he asked. This was wrong, not possible, right?

She nodded. "My team used a couple of badger summons to see what he was digging for. We found some sort of tunnel which must have been covered over during the construction of the shrine area. There were bones and tattered clothes. We're not sure of the body's age, but we have reason to believe it may be the princess the shrine is…"

Kazuo placed a hand on her shoulder. She paused, steel-blue eyes following his haunted expression. "No need to say more," he told her quietly. "Sorry, I need to go inform my students. It was nice to meet you, Nama-san…" He didn't hear her irate corrections as he walked away, too deep in thought to worry about anything else.

To tell the truth, there had been a _few_ omissions in his report. Who was going to believe the original report anyway? One of his students had apparently been possessed by the vengeful spirit of a dead princess, caused a small-scale massacre, and then the ghost had suddenly vanished after some sort of spiritual intervention by his other student, who had actually been miles away at the time. Well, that was the version according to Sora. But then, he hadn't heard the same things he had as he had hesitated before opening the door that night.

_…the place Akane died is right under this house_ _where the cave leads – but her spirit doesn't reside there any more, she no longer exists now…_

_His_ report told a story of thieves that had intentionally tried to lure shinobi to the shrine in order to kidnap a student and ensure a safe getaway. But through stupidity and disorganisation, they had succumbed to a trap his team had set up and a brawl ensued. The location of their boss was revealed by one of the henchmen, and Kita was rescued.

No mention of supernatural events. No mention of Kita's intervention. Although he was sure his version had enough plot holes to walk an elephant through, but it had to do.

He almost wished he hadn't asked Sora that day about Kita's condition. Ghosts, spirits, all that crap… It wasn't like supernatural events didn't happen. They were a specialty for some shinobi, even if they weren't exactly on the same level of what they'd experienced that night. Yet everything still felt so wrong… so _twisted_. And Kazuo didn't even know why he felt the need to go so far to protect his student like this, even to the point of covering up what had happened from the Tsuchikage.

Maybe it was because he was growing suspicious. It almost didn't feel like it was him covering things up, but Benkei-sama himself. He was afraid of what he might find out if he asked for the truth. The truth felt like a looming beast that would strike him down if he dared utter a word of curiosity. It seemed like the report was more to show his own ignorance instead.

Kazuo scanned the skyline as he made his way through town. A group of ANBU ran across the rooftops, heading for a mission or some sort of training. He almost missed those days when he'd have been there with them, those days of anonymity and the thrill of a mission. He used to lead his own missions with teams of experienced shinobi. Now he had to look after a trio of snot-nosed munchkins, even though he _did_ feel like something of a father figure to them. He felt terrible for having yelled at them that night when they'd rescued Kita. Kita was just… he'd made a promise at Minami's grave after all.

The death of the priest weighed on his mind heavily now. He couldn't say it was anyone's fault in particular. The old man had been caretaker of that shrine his whole life, it was no surprise he was so obsessed. Finding out the princess he guarded the memories of had been dead under his own house must have triggered something. He must have dug days on end after they'd left, only to have the stress of it all finally strike him down, and all before he was able to succeed. It was a depressing tale and one he wasn't sure how to explain to the children. Death was something that was supposed to come quick and sudden to shinobi, not agonising and terrible like that.

Maybe if they were up to it he would do something special with them. Treat them to dinner or take them to the movies. Something. Anything. Just to get this weight off his chest. As he exited the building, he looked up at the sky again. For some reason, it felt as those that weight would never go though. Looking after kids like this made him worry it would only grow heavier.

* * *

"You of all people, Kita… dragging me out for a picnic. I'm still tired from the mission and fixing up your new bracelet," muttered Sora. His gaze wandered down to the basket she was carrying, looking curious. "I didn't know you could cook."

"It's sandwiches and tea. Doesn't take a genius to figure out you stuff something between two slices of bread." She gave him a blank look. She couldn't say why she was doing this. Maybe it was the fact she hadn't slept in days now, or she'd just been stuck with nothing to do but read. Regardless, she wasn't about to tell him it was some sort of way of reliving the memory of the first picnic they'd all had. Somehow she still felt grumpy with him from the night they rescued her.

It was strange, but there were just details of that night missing from her memory – parts of the whole mission in fact. After she and Sora walked back, they went inside the house, he fell asleep, and she'd… _someone_ had made her a cup of tea. Must have been one of the villagers Kazuo had asked to help out. She'd had such a headache that night, it made sense she wouldn't have been paying attention. 

"Is Yanagi-chan coming?"

"Later," she replied. "She insisted on bringing a cake. She'll be in the bakery all day trying to pick the cutest one."

Sora grinned to himself. "It'll be worth it."

"Hisae's coming too," she added. His grin faded into bewilderment. "I think she's ready to talk to us about the exam."

"Good," he nodded. He sighed quietly. "I was worried…"

Kita wasn't sure if she could say she had been worried, not after weeks of being ignored now. She felt sorry, but it didn't really matter any longer – all she wanted was for today to be a little different from the boring days she'd spent re-reading books.

They reached the entrance of the tunnel I good time despite Sora's weariness and occasional complaints. Kita pulled open the trapdoor and stared down into the darkness – she'd forgotten to bring a flashlight.

It was more than awkward as they felt their way down the pitch-black stairs. "Don't fall," she warned Sora. The last thing she wanted was to go crashing down in this place. She pushed down the urge to shudder, remembering everything she feared about the dark. She wanted to run back up towards the little square of light far above them, but what good would that do? She'd end up looking like a coward.

"This would be easier if you had your bloodline…"

Kita paused on the stairs, footsteps against metal echoing into silence. Sora had stopped on the step above her. She wanted to tell him off – of _course_ things would be easier. This darkness that scared her so much, maybe she'd feel just a tiny bit safer if she were able to use it. But she had nobody to teach her. In the end, she was alone. Being alone didn't bother her exactly, but her house was full of photos of strangers that looked like her, strangers she could almost mistake for being her at times. She had a burden of carrying a family name she knew nothing about, and a legacy she couldn't even begin to understand.

"Sorry," muttered Sora in the darkness. She realised she'd been standing there for too long. "I don't think I've ever really heard you talk about your bloodline before, even though it's so well-known in the village."

"There's no point," she replied, starting the walk down again. "It died with my father. I'll have to make my own way."

They came to the end of the tunnel. Kita slid the door across. It had been left unlocked, a good sign Hisae was already there. They crawled out into the sunlight weak with the onset of winter. Kita began to slide the door shut behind them. As the shadows became covered from view, she heard the clanging of metal in the distance.

* * *

**A/N:**

~Amakara – Means to have a salty-sweet/bittersweet taste

*Nana – Seven

Kazuo accidentally called her 'Nama', which can mean something that is raw and unprocessed.


	19. Fall into the Dark

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **I'm really glad I get to post this chapter at last! This one and the chapter after were really fun to write. I hope you guys like them too!

* * *

**_Chapter 19: Fall into the Dark_**

The weather had dropped several degrees on the other side of the mountain. Hisae had presented them with scarves and blankets when they had finally found her amongst the grass. Slowly, the sun rose past the ridge and light poured onto them, warming up the land a little to a more comfortable level. Despite Hisae's eagerness when they'd approached, Kita could feel the same tension she'd had on the first picnic behind her voice. It reminded her of what she'd said – she'd found this place with Tansei – but he hadn't been back since some sort of incident. Anger began to build up in her stomach as she remembered him and the way he'd treated her like some sort of rag doll, although she made sure not to show it on the outside.

"Took us forever to get back, but there was no way I was going to run through that sort of terrain again." Sora pulled a face as he told Hisae of the mission. She listened closely, nodding occasionally. "I was pooped by the time we got back. We went inside the priest's house and I dozed off. The priest didn't talk to you, did he, Kita? I thought I heard you two talking while I was falling asleep." He glanced in her direction, pulling her attention away from the boiling resentment in her gut.

She thought for a second before shaking her head and pausing again. She frowned. "I don't know if there was a priest there, I was really out of it when we got back."

He raised an eyebrow at her. After a moment he shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, last night was a bit… confusing."

"Kita-chan, your sandwich…" Hisae glimpsed down at the bread in Kita's hands. The slices were almost squashed beyond recognition, leaving a mess of peanut butter all over her fingers. She grimaced as Hisae gave a soft giggle. "You should wash that off."

"Yeah," she muttered, giving the girl a crooked smile. Careful not to put peanut butter everywhere, she stood up. "I'll go wash up at the waterfall." She brushed aside the grass with her forearm and made her way to the gaping hole the waterfall dropped into. She crouched by its side, reaching her hands out as far as she could whilst not nearing the hole.

She glanced up as she heard the noise of metal scraping far off. The door, she realised. Yanagi must have finally come. Kita continued to wash her hands, staring down into the tear in the earth. There was still something she didn't like about it, the way it fell into cold, empty darkness. She'd had to pass down those stairs before with that same sort of feeling surrounding her. A feeling that sent shivers along her skin and reminded her of her fears – she hated these feelings overwhelming her so easily now – they'd gotten so much worse since that night at the shrine. She wondered what had gone through the mind of the man that had taken her hostage as he'd fallen over the cliff that night, falling into the darkness. She didn't remember if he'd screamed or not.

Another noise alerted her suddenly – yells from the picnic area. Curious yet cautious, she walked towards the tall grass. Something was getting closer from the other side. Before she knew it, she was standing face to face with _him_, nothing but a thin wall of greenery between them.

"Just thought I'd drop by…" Tansei's mouth twitched into a smirk. Through the grassy wall, his fist collided into her jaw.

For a few moments, all she could see was the blurred landscape, reeling in her head as she stumbled backwards. The metal taste of blood filled her mouth. She had been completely stiff as her mind had started to seethe with anger, no time to react. The sound of the waterfall seemed to grow even louder in her ringing ears. Her vision returned in time to see Tansei step closer towards her, although her head was still spinning.

Hisae and Sora tumbled out of the grass together. Sora's nose was bleeding. "Kita," he exclaimed. She was sure she wasn't looking too well either, but she had to disregard him, instead keeping her gaze fixed straight on Tansei.

He glanced over to the two, Hisae flinching away from his glare as he did. He smirked at her. Slowly he walked towards the waterfall's gap. Kita backed up towards Hisae, standing to try and block her from Tansei's sight. "This is familiar…" he remarked to them. "Hisae, did you ever tell them about your fall from grace?"

The girl gave a small cry of protest, but it was lost in Kita's mind as the anger continued to build. Why now? Now of all places? Hisae wasn't a fighter, and she didn't deserve ridicule.

"My own parents called you a genius. People kept heaping praise on you. Nobody ever thought I was special too, even when I could do everything you could. Everything was easier for you…"

Sora had only tried to be a friend to everyone, yet he was now nursing a bloody nose. What had he done wrong?

"You treated me as an equal, not like our parents did, or the rest of the village. So when we found this place I thought of it as a place where we'd always be on equal ground. But when you brought me here that time and showed me what you'd done to the waterfall… I finally realised. You never thought of me as an equal, you were only nice because you felt sorry for me, that I was weak…"

"We… we were too young then," Hisae said quietly, interrupting him with as much confidence as she could muster. "I didn't think of us being on different levels."

Tansei's glare grew harsher. "_Genius… _They called you _genius…_ But look at you now – one push and you've been reduced to a shivering mass."

"I-I was down there for a long time…" Hisae began to quiver as she stared at the abyss. Sora grabbed her by the shoulder reassuringly.

Her cousin seemed even more pleased at her reaction. He gazed down into the canyon, water roaring down into a hidden pool below. "You didn't need glasses before that push, I remember. It's a stress thing, right? What have you got to worry about anyway? It's not like anyone has any expectations about you any more."

"Shut up, Tansei," Sora demanded. "Keep it between us and leave her alone. Or better yet, just get lost. If you do anything more we'll go straight to the Tsuchikage and report you."

Tansei's look of satisfaction faded. He looked away, acting as though the words held no meaning to him. "I didn't even get to the good part," he said, forcing a smirk. "I wasn't even supposed to graduate because of what I did. It's funny though, because in the end Hisae was the one who ended up convincing her father to let me take her place instead."

All gazes went to Hisae. The girl's eyes were wide.

"I… I did it to protect Kita-chan," she replied, tears flooding over. "She told me you had been training with her, and I knew that you were only using her to make yourself feel stronger. It… it wasn't right. I told Father to graduate you so that you'd leave her alone…"

Kita didn't know why she wasn't like Hisae – she couldn't find herself to be as caring and supportive – she had no idea Hisae had gone so far to help her.

"For a _genius_, you really can be quite an idiot," retorted Tansei haughtily. "The team he placed me with is a handful, yes, but you thought something like _that_ would make me forget? Become too busy and have to push this issue aside? Or think that doing this would make me _owe_ you in some way? Things simply don't work like that, Hisae. Sora and Kita made the same mistakes as you, and I can't let that go by… By the way, is Yanagi coming? I'll have to make sure to remember to include her."

Kita didn't know why she wasn't like Yanagi either – she didn't have a lot of confidence in herself – nor did she have the same sort of optimism.

"Hisae…" Sora's voice sounded determined. The insult against Yanagi had hit him hard. "Go with Kita and get out of here. His fight is with me."

"Sora-kun, you're still supposed to be resting."

"It's fine, I'll do it. I promise. Just get out of here." He smiled at Hisae, trying to calm her worries.

She certainly wasn't Sora – Sora was everything she wished she could be – with a gentle strength that seemed to get almost anyone to smile.

Tansei strode towards them, pushing past Kita as he reached out for Hisae. "They won't get very far, Sora. My _fight_ is with all of you."

She knew she wasn't anything like them, but she only knew that out of them, if anyone was to take the blame, it should be her.

Her eyes flickered towards Tansei, catching his gaze – too late as she lunged at him and delivered a blow to his face just the same as he had done to her. He fell back, reeling from the impact. She stood there for a moment feeling the throbbing pressure in her hand from punching him.

"Kita, get out of here!" Sora ushered her away with Hisae. They ran into the grass and headed for the tunnel, hoping for escape.

Something grabbed Kita from behind, yanking her away from Hisae's hold. She suppressed a cry of pain as she fell to the ground. Tansei held onto the end of her hair tightly, blood dribbling from a cut she'd given him on his lip. He pulled her by the hair again. Kita struggled against him as she was dragged through the dirt.

"Kita!" Hisae turned back and ran through the grass towards her. Sora caught up and reached her first though, barrelling through the grass and tackling Tansei. The two tumbled to the ground, Tansei's grip ripping out strands of hair as he was forced to let go. Kita recovered to her feet in time to have Sora crash against her. She steadied him, feeling his heavy breathing under her hands. He wasn't in any shape for this sort of action at the moment. She pushed him away into the grass as Tansei ran at them.

Kita readied herself in case he attacked again, but she knew it would be hard to fight him one-on-one despite her determination. Tansei had beaten her every time before in practise.

And he knew it too. The bloody smile on his face showed he knew it.

She barely managed to push away the kick he sent her way, throwing her arms up defensively as he went for a punch immediately after. It was a feint – he grabbed her by the wrists. Kita twisted away from him, manoeuvring her hands to grab him by the arm instead and pull him towards her to try and clothesline him by the neck. He managed to dodge, her blow breezing over his head harmlessly. Before she knew it, she was on the ground again with his foot crushing down on her chest.

"You're stubborn, Kita," he whispered at her quietly. "When I was practising with you before, you found it hard to quit. You kept going until you fell, and when you woke up you begged for more pain. I'm beginning to think you enjoyed it."

"As much as it _pained_ me, no," Kita replied flatly with as much malice as she could muster. She stared daggers up at him. "I could have gone right on pretending to be happy with what you were offering, but do I look like someone who likes being kicked around and lied to?" She gritted her teeth. His foot crushed down on her harder. She wanted to defeat him so badly, spit in his face, make him beg for mercy… but her hope was fading more than her breath with his foot pressing down on her like some sort of animal. He always bested her, and it drove her mad. Her head was aching with the conflict of anger and despair, even worse than for the past few days she'd been awake, it felt like she was standing on the edge – one more step and…

He raised an eyebrow at her, finding some kind of amusement in her answer. "You say that now, but it looked like you enjoyed it. You didn't mind being the rag doll at all, just as long as it felt like someone was paying attention to you."

"Kita, stop listening to him!" Sora rose to his feet although his tiring legs were shaking.

She ignored him. "That's a lie," she exclaimed at Tansei. She coughed for air. "As long as I was paying attention to _you_, you felt like you had power. Even if what you said was true, I don't thirst for power the same way you do. You never cared about how I felt just as long as you felt in charge."

He didn't speak for a while, although she knew she hadn't damaged him with any of her words. Tansei's frown furrowed deeply. His foot pressed down a little harder. She could feel the edges of darkness growing around her as her breathing grew shallower. Her vision trembled with the fear of it.

"I did care. But you ran off with Sora! I didn't find out until you'd already left!" Tansei growled. She glanced up at him, seeing his expression grow more furious. "You betrayed me. You ruined everything!"

"You ruined everything for yourself, Tansei," she retorted bitterly and gasped for more air as his foot lessened a little off her chest from the surprise of her answer. She knew she was digging her own grave by defying him like this and letting him talk, but she couldn't help it. There was that compulsion again – to keep going no matter what the cost. "You gave into your weak delusions believing Sora and I were out to ruin you for some reason. Why would I want to do that when it would only bring ruin on me as well? I made mistakes, I know that, but I'm not…"

She froze with the word 'human' caught on the tip of her tongue. _Human…?_ Just why would she say that? It made no sense. But then… why did all the words she say sound so familiar at this moment? _Ruin, delusions, pretending…_ It felt like déjà vu – like she'd been through something a lot like this long ago – it was like she'd talked to someone who'd said things similar to what Tansei had just said. It was so familiar. But why _that _word for _that_ moment? She had no answer for it. Human…?_ Human…?_ What reason was for her to even say that? She _was_ human! There was no doubt, right?

Right…?

"You're not _what_?" inquired Tansei impatiently. His foot crushed down on her harder than ever. She heard something crack in her chest and pain worse than before shot through her. She coughed again, this time blood splattering onto her cheek. Tansei continued to yell at her. "_You're not what?_ Not a puppet?"

"Don't listen to him anymore, Kita!" demanded Sora. "Get up! Come on!" She tried to look for him, desperately seeking for something to cling onto amid the chaos and questions in her head. She could hear some sort of force behind his voice, one she almost wanted to follow what it was he said. But there was so much going through her mind, she could barely even move her body, let alone comprehend what she was supposed to do.

Tansei's mouth twitched into a smirk. "If you listen to him, you're no better than a puppet anyway." She was still unable to stir as he reached down and grabbed her by the hair again. But the pain was dull compared to the pain in her lungs, and she could hardly feel the rocks scraping under her back as he dragged her across the ground. Despite his foot no longer on her chest, she still couldn't breathe properly. Why couldn't she bring herself to move? It was almost like she was welcoming this, even though it caused so much anger at the same time. What she wanted right now was to fall unconscious like she always did, if only to escape the thoughts crossing her mind and the growing fear that made her body freeze up.

Somewhere nearby, Hisae was crying for her to run away. Sora was yelling something – fight back, she thought it was. His voice was frantic, worse than she'd ever heard him before, but slowly his voice was drowned out by the roar of the waterfall.

_Run away… Fight back… _She didn't want to be told what to do. Somehow it felt like she'd been told what to do her entire life. Something in the back of her strange memories even had words like that. _A proxy… A puppet to my thoughts… What doesn't think for itself…_

"You really _are_ pathetic… Maybe you really do enjoy being kicked around." Tansei's eyes burned into hers as he grabbed her by the collar. He got her to her feet somehow, although she felt more like she was barely even touching the ground… as though she was half-suspended. She managed to turn her head and see the dark abyss gaping below her – he'd dragged her back to the waterfall.

Her eyes went wide. Not there – _anywhere but there_…_!_ Her body began to work again. She grabbed onto Tansei's arm, her nails raking down his sleeve as she tried to find something, anything, safe to hold onto. She clawed desperately at him. He gritted his teeth as he strained against her struggling. Her vision quivered as he leaned forward to whisper before her eyes, every word from his lips in slow motion. "You'll always be a doll people will throw around if you act like this. I really was hoping for more from you, but you _are_ a doll, a useless doll."

"I'm… I'm…" she replied in a pained voice, trailing off as she found the words lost in her terror.

He clutched harder at her shirt, his grip shaking. "Go on, tell me," he goaded, lips curling wickedly into a smile. "Tell me what you are and maybe I'll let you go."

She stared at him, the choice sinking in. It was like in that moment her spirit had suddenly shattered apart – all her anger had vanished – she wanted to be safe. There had been so much she wanted to do to him… so much hurt…

But now her courage had finally failed her. The horror had become too great. She lifted her head to the sky, not daring to look into the abyss below howling up at her. The abyss that sent shivers down her spine.

"I… I am a doll," she whispered out quietly. She said it obediently, begrudgingly hopeful that she'd be given mercy. She had to… this suspending nightmare… _please let me escape._

Tansei held her for a while in silence. Only the waterfall roared in her ears. She gazed at him, waiting for a response. Something, anything, to show she was going to be safe.

But slowly his expression twisted into something serious – a deep frown void of the amusement he'd shown earlier.

"I said I had been hoping for more from you."

Fingers unfurled from the grip on her shirt.

"Stay in the darkness and never come out, Kita."

She fell.

She thought she could hear Sora and Hisae's voices echoing down the hole as she felt herself plummeting in enveloping shadow, with air rushing past her ears. There was nothing below her now, not for a long time.

She looked up to the tiny speck of light above, sure Tansei's face was staring down at her. _You really are pathetic… You _are_ a doll, a useless doll… _

The realisation of what had just happened hit her. She'd been pushed. Into the darkness that frightened her beyond all reason. The questions didn't matter any more. Human or not, this fear defined her, terrified her, and made her want to scream.

Panic set in. Kita reached up towards the light, trying to grab it desperately in her fingers. Her blood began to freeze as it became smaller and smaller in her grasp until it glimmered and died.

It was then that her reasoning finally snapped.

She screamed for help to escape the dark. She screamed for anything to help her escape her fear.

But only the darkness was there to embrace her.

And it took over as she plunged into the cold water.

* * *

The scream that echoed from the gulf chilled Sora. Kita was falling. She was terrified. He'd let that happen – how could he? Hisae yelled Kita's name frantically.

Tansei stared down into the depths and dusted his hands off, as though he had simply thrown a piece of garbage away. His gaze settled on Sora. "Who's next?" he asked with a smirk.

Flames erupted out of the abyss behind him. He turned slowly, eyes widening before something dark struck out and sent him flying into the field. Hisae's cries fell short.

Through the flames something seemed to crawl… almost slither out, shiny black claws piercing the earth. Smoke and embers poured from a maw filled with too many teeth while a lone tail twitched back and forth slowly. White-blue eyes glazed over like some rotten thing, it surveyed the landscape before it as its body bubbled and melted unsettlingly back into itself with the consistency of boiling tar. It screeched, metal against metal, from a mouth that glowed like a deep cauldron.

Sora remembered the scrolls and the old stories he'd been told. This creature was the Corpse Walker; the monster cat that strayed between the lines between this world and the next, while taking anyone in its path along with it. This was the Nekomata, the abomination who had driven the last Jinchuuriki mad and killed his team mates.

Kita was a Jinchuuriki…

* * *

**A/N:** Just a note to say that Hisae probably has Streff Syndrome, which is associated with vision impairment due to the stress she has gone through.


	20. Corpse Walker

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

**A/N: **Alright, here's probably one of my favourite chapters I've written so far. I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

**_Chapter 20: Corpse Walker_**

Sora awoke with a jolt. He regretted it immediately and held a hand to his forehead as a headache set in. This was the third time tonight he'd had that nightmare. It nauseated him. Unblinking white eyes… those images wouldn't leave him. He plumped the pillows behind him to allow him to sit up. The faint smell of anti-bacterial wash lingered in the hospital room.

The curtains were open, allowing weak moonlight to fill the room and cast a white lustre over everything. He could see across the tops of rooftops from this vantage point and the new snow that had begun to blanket it all.

It had begun snowing the day after he'd been taken to the hospital. Winter had finally come.

Sora sighed and turned his head towards the window a little more. He wasn't sure what to think any longer. He'd gone over the situation hundreds of times during the past week, and gone through all the emotions that accompanied it. He felt drained mentally.

He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the black claws that had reached out of the earth and the demonic eyes that had followed. White-blue and glazed over… they weren't Kita's eyes any longer. After he'd heard her screaming from the abyss he knew she'd fallen into her worst nightmare.

_I… I was scared being tied up… and useless in the dark like that. I don't want to go back to that._

She'd said those hesitant words to him as they'd walked back to the shrine all those nights ago.

He supposed he knew how Tansei felt now – to be betrayed by someone, to find out they weren't what you thought they were. Sora moved his arms so he could look at the bandages running up them. The nurse had tried to make him smile with that old 'girls dig scars' saying, but when the scar was caused by a girl… one he thought had been his friend… it didn't feel like it would ever have that 'coolness' to it.

Snowflakes slid down against the window. The snow had hidden it, but the village had also been damaged.

They'd run through the grass to the tunnel and locked the door, but she'd followed them and torn the door off its hinges. He could still remember the clanging of metal as they escaped up the stairs, that unnatural screech growing closer behind them. He'd been the last one out, throwing the wooden door down to block her off. But it had been stupid to do so. In the few seconds he should have used to run instead, the door exploded into splinters and multitudes of teeth had raked down his instinctually-raised arms. He fell to the ground. Hisae and Tansei were frozen in shock. He yelled at them to go. Why he yelled for Tansei to take Hisae and go… in fact, why Tansei even obeyed and got her out of there… Fear did funny things to people.

He wasn't even sure why'd they helped Tansei in the first place either. It had all felt like some sort of sick joke at that moment. It really did… what kind of sick joke allowed you to see your friend suffer their worst nightmare, and then end up with that same friend becoming _your_ worst nightmare? It definitely screwed with his mind. Maybe showing Tansei sympathy and helping him had been part of the joke, but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving him behind to burned alive… or worse.

He remembered the creature's face as it placed its paws on his shoulders and stood over him, embers dripping from the corners of its too-wide mouth and floating into the breeze. It had a mouth like a cauldron and breath that smelt like smoke and rotten things. When he'd felt the mismatched fangs tear down his arms, he could feel the heat blistering his skin. He'd been lucky it hadn't clamped down on him. Lucky that villagers had arrived to investigate after seeing the embers set dry autumn trees alight and made smoke swirl like a beacon into the air.

Lucky… it had become distracted from wanting to kill him.

The weight lifted from his shoulders and he heard a scream. It took him a moment to register what was happening, and he sat up to feel flecks of blood cover his face. The creature had a woman in its mouth, shaking her as though it was a rabid dog with a piece of meat. It tossed the woman aside into the flames, blood pouring from the gaping wound in her side. She gave a final death rattle before the blaze began to claim her body. Sora stared on, his own body trembling as the smell of burning flesh flooded his nostrils.

The creature moved on, stalking its way through the choking smoke. Sora heard more and more sounds of terror echo through the slowly burning forest. The creature struck down anyone that came near, and it was moving into the village.

Despite the pain and agony he felt through his body he rose to his feet and fumbled his way through the smoke.

This creature… this thing… was it still her in there? Somewhere?

In the midst of his fear, a tiny voice in the back of his head had wondered, if only for a second, if he spoke would he be able to control her?

He stumbled out of the forest and into a back lane. There was an old man on the ground. Dead. Eyes wide. Blood spilled across the dirt. And there were more bodies as he went. He stepped over them, some whimpering for help, some softly sobbing until their voices faded away.

Sora covered his mouth with his hand to suppress his want to vomit. The death of those bandits had been on a scale so different compared to this. He couldn't give these people any help either, he could only hope it would arrive soon – and that he could only help by stopping her.

His footsteps grew stronger until he was running, fuelled by adrenaline. He followed the trail of destruction until he found her, cornering a child between some trash bins. The child cowered in her wake and the vision of its hellish maw. Sora refused to slow down, not even for a moment to think – he lunged and tackled her. He clung tightly around her neck, somehow managing to pull her back to let the child escape.

"Kita… stop. Please, no more!" he pleaded.

They held, frozen, for a while until his bleeding arms were too weak to keep grip any further. Sora collapsed to the ground and half-expected for his last sight to be flames and claws. Instead there was nothing. Nothing. He was faced with blue-white eyes, pupil-less and unblinking, staring blindly into his own.

He wasn't sure if what he'd seen had been real or not, but in those wide inhuman eyes, for just that brief moment, he thought he saw some sort of realisation. He thought he saw guilt, and somehow he felt the same feeling in himself.

"Kita…" He reached out a hand, shaking, unsure – wanting to know if she was really there.

But suddenly, she was gone.

From there the whole village would come to know the continued existence of the monster called the Corpse Walker, as the creature fled over buildings with the guilt of death on her tail.

And they would come to know it was Kita, because on that day the last Mitsukai finally left the village.

The pain in his arms had almost gone now. Sora continued to stare out the window rimed with white. Soon enough he'd have to go back to missions and working with his team, sans one. Yanagi had visited every few days, although he felt some sort of seething anger underneath the smile she tried to give to cheer him up. And for once he was lost on why she felt that way. Confliction was all he could gather from her mind. Was it because she felt betrayed too in some way? She'd run through the village when she saw the fire, only to be greeted by Sora being carried away on a stretcher. Was it frustration from not being able to believe what had happened? She'd come to discover that someone she'd secretly adored had done such terrible things, and her best friend had become a monster capable of much worse. Or maybe was it because he'd been there and hadn't been able to do anything? Perhaps she felt like it was his fault for Kita becoming like that. Whenever he tried to smile back at her, he knew it was an imitation.

His world had begun to crumble. Slowly, slowly, he realised it had been crumbling away. Ever since he'd set eyes upon the sliced up body of Hissori Mitsukai and his screaming daughter that had set his mind afire. And it all went full circle once more. Before that day he'd seen her as something different, something that made him nervous. After that day he'd come to call her 'friend'. Now… she terrified him. But somehow he still felt that guilt lingering in the pit of his stomach, that feeling that had always been there throughout every phase.

But why guilt? Why after this did he still feel like he'd done something wrong?

He supposed it was because he knew Kita was just a kid, just like him. She wanted normality even though she too felt she was something different, something that made even herself nervous. It was maybe for that reason she had frozen up in a moment of weakness and Tansei had taken advantage of her, and had inadvertently plunged her into the deepest of her nightmares. The nightmares that would soon become their own…

All those people… dead… they haunted him too.

He wished this had never happened, but it had, and the pain never felt greater.

* * *

The reason why she ran away was because she was a coward. She couldn't up with any other word than that. The look on Sora's face told her something was wrong, and that she was the cause of it. She was a monster. The worst kind.

That was why she wandered away into the wilderness and looked for a reason.

Perhaps that was why she felt no need to fight back against the man who kicked her to the ground and waved a knife in her face. She saw the lettering, the flash of 'Happy Birthday, Kazuo' written on the blade. The man mocked her and asked where her team was.

"I don't have a team anymore…"

He smiled and mused about fate. Fortune must have been smiling on him to allow him to get his revenge. He might not have gotten away with any artefacts from the shrine, but this was more than enough for him. He pulled up his sleeve and showed her the bandages wrapped up his arm. He asked if she wanted to feel the same pain he had.

"Do what you want…"

He dumped her body out in the wastelands with a knife sticking out of her torso and blood running in puddles to the ground, laughing as he walked away.

She watched the sky blaze in brilliant colour, unable to even breathe, knowing that something _was_ wrong with her.

It wasn't so bad, being stuck like this. This was a good place to be. Maybe this was what she deserved… even though something within herself felt the same panic she'd experienced falling into the dark. It wanted to live. It called for her to do something, but she could only see the sun rise and fall each day. There was nothing she could do, not even to lift a finger. But as long as she could watch the sun and the lights of the night sky, she felt content. It meant she wouldn't have to face the darkness she saw inside herself. That darkness terrified her.

But this wasn't to be her fate.

"Gaara? What's wrong?"

The last thing she saw was dark-ringed eyes and red hair before the lights went out. She screamed as she was forced to face the darkness and she fought against it. She strained to listen to the wind rustle through the dry grasses, but even then they ran together and she became deaf to them. Only the voice of the darkness remained calling for her. There was nothing else.

Eventually, it dragged her away.

* * *

Suddenly, she was sitting on the floor of a room. Not any room though, she recognised this one. She'd spent enough time there before to know it – the attic of her house. Scrolls and books littered the place. She picked one up and flicked through it.

Faded memories of days gone by… Her first day at school, blurry images of Yanagi and Hisae…

She went through more of the books finding more of the same – so many of them were missing parts though, pages ripped and parts scrubbed out. At times it almost seemed like she was just talking to herself. These were all the things she didn't know. What if there had been someone important to fill those parts? Who had they been to her? Maybe… she had been the one who killed them.

She threw the book she was holding against the wall and ran from the room. It was too much. The darkness was nothing in comparison to these sorts of questions.

"Kita…"

She paused midway on the stairs. A voice was echoing up from the ground floor. Glancing back up at the attic and deciding anywhere was better than there, she followed the voice. The second floor bedrooms were closed off. No matter how hard she twisted the doorhandles they refused to budge. She felt something beyond them though, calling her but not as clear as the voice from the floor below. She moved on.

The first thing she noticed at the bottom of the stairs was the door to her own bedroom, and the red liquid that seeped from the crack beneath.

Tentatively she opened it, and stared into the endlessness – terrifying and full of unknown things that made her knees weak and her mind dizzy with terror.

She slammed it shut again and stumbled back against the opposite wall. That feeling… it had been like she had been standing on the edge of a cliff. She hadn't really known what she'd seen, but if she'd crossed over it, she had no doubt that was 'the way out'.

"The last host… he was a piece of work. The girls would fawn over his appearance, but inside he was a nasty little boy who liked to see the flies squirm with their wings torn off, rather than simply kill them outright. I despised him. In the end though, he opened a door like that and stepped over the threshold. When he came back out… I thought he was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen."

With tedious footsteps she walked down the final hallway. She paused, only to glance in at the open bathroom. Her reflection smiled with a familiar expression – Sora's grin – it looked like it was practising faces. She stared at it for a while. Something flashed within her memories. Sora stared up at her, arms bloody and torn, tears streaming from terrified eyes.

She turned away from the mirror trying to block the sight. Her reflection now showed herself looking smug and satisfied. Disgusting.

"Why are you telling me this?" She stopped at the entrance to the living room, now full of darkness and guarded by bars. She could see the flickering set of the television in the corner, screen showing nothing but static. Something moved in the dark.

"Your father asked the same question once. I gave him my justifications for existence, but I will tell you that even I will be forgotten one day. 'The river swells with each new wave; the shore becomes the waves' mass grave' – this creature too will die and then Amatsu-Mikaboshi will move onto the next generation, because we have no reason for existence except to _be_. We all fight so hard to exist, but it's because we don't want to be forgotten. This is the demon's own curse – the compulsion to live on, one way or another."

"I still don't think I understand." She wrapped her hands around the bars. Her eyes began to adjust until she could see it. Someone was leaning against the back of the lounge facing her.

It was her… an older her, but the same nonetheless. She stared at the blank blue-white eyes, arms wrapped around something she couldn't quite make out until her older self moved towards her. The face of the man in so many photos, she recognised it as the one she was supposed to called 'father'. His head was being held in her older self's arms.

"Your father was a fool, but I won't forget him. This fragment of his soul still has me even if all the other women in his life left him. I think he would like I'm pretending to be you for a little longer in here." She stroked his dead face with black nails and smiled – a smile too mixed with emotions to tell. "I promised him I'd take care of you. His last wish – 'don't let death affect her like it has me'. Perhaps he meant it in the same way that drove him to kill himself. But I mean to keep you alive in any way I can, and you should do the same. _Live_, Kita. You can do that, right?"

She didn't flinch as the hand reached out and stroked her cheek. It was almost comforting, even as the nail drew a red line down her flesh. She nodded slowly. The thing before her wasn't human; she knew that as soon as it had touched her. This was the monster in the dark she had feared all that time. Nibi… Nibi no Nekomata, the name was too familiar – and it all made sense – she wasn't the monster after… wait, no…

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked quietly.

That smile again. A long fingernail pressed under her chin. "No secrets here. If you want the truth, just ask."

"Will I… become a monster?"

The grin widened to reveal more teeth than she thought were in there. In the darkness of the cell, the teeth showed stark white, as though nothing else existed but the maw that stole lives away and devoured them whole with greed.

It was then she realised the answer before it was even said. She ran from the bars and headed for the front door. As much as she tried the handle it was locked as well. She slid down onto the floor, trapped, unable to escape to that freedom of unconsciousness.

This was her nightmare all over again.

"Kita…" The whisper came once more, echoing down the hallway as the creature's hand beckoned her to come back.

"Don't… don't say it," she retorted, curling into a ball with her hands clapped over her ears. "I don't want to know."

"But you already asked, and I'm obliged to answer," it hissed, voice driving into her very mind so she would hear. She could almost feel the smile on its face growing wider as it spoke. "You might call me a monster, but a demon am I until my last breath. From where I stand, _I'm_ the one who sees a monster behind the bars. You're able to feel loss and pain, and then turn those feelings into rage and power. You can do more destruction than I ever could – simply because humanity has poisoned you. But humanity means you'll end up hurting the ones you love most… like Hissori."

Kita froze for a moment, hearing the last words clearer than anything. She scrambled to her feet and ran back to the cell. The Nibi wasn't smiling like she thought – instead its wide eyes reminded her of a child, unable to understand what they'd been told.

"It's a nice curse, isn't it? Forgetting the dead…" The creature placed Hissori's head on the ground and slid down to sit next to it. The wide-eyed look had vanished. It sighed, neck arching with a tired elegance. "You'll never know… you'll never know just what you lost. Death is but a fading memory after all. Eventually all will be forgotten. But you'll never be human if you keep forgetting what made you. It's what made a beautiful creature out of the last host. He forgot the girls who fawned over him, and the boys who had made him feel like a brother. All were slain on the battlefield and his commanders made him walk the bloody ground and point to their corpses, pointing out they had died. And he knew not a single one. When he reached the end and realised he'd lost it all, he walked through that door and… such a sight it was."

The Nibi stared up at the ceiling, head tilted in quiet contemplation.

"I can't begin to understand fully that sort of pain, because death is just another facet of existence to me," it muttered, "but… I walked in your shoes for a while and felt what it was like to lose a man. I found myself furious for what he did, and I can only wish I could forget like you." The creature carefully brushed aside a lock of hair from Hissori's face.

Grabbing the cell bars, Kita shook them furiously. "Why…? Why are you like this? You're the monster! I'm not! Just because I can't remember doesn't mean I'm not human!"

The eyes that met hers narrowed, while and blind, but full of disgust. When it spoke this time, malice dripped with every word. "Humans… Humans will go on to become saviours and peacemakers, corrupters and killers. Their memories will shape them as human, because they are the products of their pasts and the people they interacted with. But you… what will _you_ go on to be when you've already forgotten so much? What makes you think _you_ can be one of _them_? They say the worst humans are the ones that have never been loved, so what will you become if you forget what it is like to be so? You'll only be filled with the pain of knowing you lost it all like the last host.

"_What then_, _Kita_? What will you do _then_? Will you be able to move on, or will it all be too much because you say you're human? You're better off to become a demon like me and treat humanity with contempt, because to me _they're_ the monsters. If you let them hurt you, you'll only cause yourself pain, and then one day you'll become as beautiful a creature as that boy, and I won't be able to stop you. I won't _want _to stop you."

She stared down at the disembodied head of her father, his eyes closed and face looking peaceful. She had no idea who he was… who he had been. For a father who had supposedly looked after her for so many years, she knew not a thing about him. Right now, he was merely a stranger to her. Nothing more; nothing less – and she would never truly know.

If she were to forget, be left with only the wicked smile of this creature in her head, what would she do? No wonder the other host went mad. The welcoming arms of the darkness seemed preferable to the pain of that sort of loss. Maybe it was better to just accept fate. She had already run away from so many people, so why did it matter if she remembered them or not? They were probably wishing they could forget about her.

But still… she was afraid. She didn't want to forget so easily – not really. She remembered Sora's grin from the face practising expressions in the mirror. She didn't want to forget that.

The Nibi began to hum to itself. It was the same tune as the one that had been haunting her for so long.


End file.
